She 's the second consecutive New York beauty queen to take the Miss America title , but she 's the first Indian-American to wear the national crown -- er , tiara -- atop her perfectly coiffed head . `` I was the first Indian Miss New York , and I 'm so proud to be the first Indian Miss America , '' Nina Davuluri said after she won . Davuluri 's resume goes considerably deeper than her heritage , however . The 24-year-old Fayetteville , New York , native was on the dean 's list and earned the Michigan Merit Award and National Honor Society nods while studying at the University of Michigan , where she graduated with a degree in brain behavior and cognitive science . Miss America : Butt glue , 'Breaking Bad ' jokes and more highlights . Her father , who emigrated from India 30 years ago , is a gynecologist , and Davuluri said she 'd like to become a physician one day as well . `` 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 , D.C. , to work with the Department of Education , '' according to a Miss America statement . She also is passionate about healthy lifestyles after battling obesity and bulimia when she was younger . Opinion : Miss America , Julie Chen and the beauty of choice . Davuluri 's platform was `` Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency . '' For the talent portion of the competition , she performed classic Indian dances fused with Bollywood moves . She has studied the Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam styles of dance , and in preparation for the Miss America contest , she worked with famed Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan . Miss California Crystal Lee was first runner-up , and Miss Oklahoma Kelsey Griswold was second runner-up , while Theresa Vail , the tattooed , bow-hunting , Chinese-speaking Miss Kansas , won the online viewers ' poll . Despite a night of firsts , a tired theme emerged following Davuluri 's victory : Racists took to Twitter to lambaste the pageant for picking an Indian-American . They were none too kind to Davuluri herself , either , with one particularly uninformed tweeter calling her a Muslim . Former Miss California : How do we teach kids diversity is beautiful ? Something similar happened when Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA in 2010 . Fakih is of Lebanese descent , and many were quick to try to link her to the militant group Hezbollah .
Nina Davuluri is first Indian-American Miss America . Davuluri trained with famed Bollywood choreographer . The 24-year-old wants to be a physician . Some tweets focused on winner 's heritage .