Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri Crowned in Atlantic City

In the City Where It All Began, Miss New York is Named Miss America 2014
Atlantic City, New Jersey - Miss New York, Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America 2014 tonight at the birthplace of the legendary competition in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, broadcast live on ABC. Nina became the second consecutive contestant from New York and the first contestant of Indian descent to win the Miss America Competition.

Nina's acceptance of the highly-prized crown is just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the nation during her year of service as Miss America 2014. She will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking to audiences about her platform, Celebrating Diversity through Cultural Competency and acting as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss America Organization. In addition, Miss America 2014 will be the official spokesperson for R.E.I.G.N. Cosmetics, Joseph Ribkoff Inc. and Catalina Swimwear.

Nina is a graduate of University of Michigan. During her year as Miss America she will serve as spokesperson for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) this year as she travels to Washington, DC to work with the Department of Education. Along with the coveted title of Miss America 2014, Nina won a $50,000 scholarship provided in part by Joseph Ribkoff Inc. and the Miss America Organization to continue her education. For the talent portion of the competition, Nina performed a Classical Bollywood Fusion dance.

Nina is the first Miss America to be crowned in Atlantic City, the competition's birthplace, since 2005.

First runner-up in the competition was Miss California, Crystal Lee who earned a $25,000 scholarship. Her talent performance was Ballet en pointe to Swan Lake and her personal platform is Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Second runner-up honors and a $20,000 scholarship were awarded to Miss Oklahoma, Kelsey Griswold. Her talent was a vocal performance and her personal platform is A.R.T.- Artists Reaching Together.

Miss Kansas, Teressa Vail was the winner of ABC's America's Choice, an online competition where viewers were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite Miss America contestant. The announcement was made at the beginning of the Miss America broadcast and Teressa became the 15th Finalist to compete in the live finale.

As the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation's leading achievement programs, the Miss America Organization made available last year more than $45 million in scholarship assistance. The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of nationwide community-based programs.

Additional information about the Miss America Organization can be found at www.MissAmerica.org.