Miss Next Century 2020 | Merritt Moore

Merritt Moore is an American ballerina and quantum physicist. Moore's love for math and dance started at a young age growing up in California. Moore dances professionally for ballet companies around the world and completed her PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics at Oxford in 2017 following her underaduate degree in physics at Harvard. In 2020, Moore began an innovative residency at Harvard's ArtLab exploring how AI can inspire human creativity through dance.

Moore was named Glamour's 'Top Ten College Women' in 2010. In 2017, Moore was a candidate on BBC Two's 'Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?'. In 2018, Moore started a unique Instagram profile and campaign called SASters Squad (Science-Art-Sisters Squad, @sasters_squad) to support and promote women pursuing both science and art. Moore was named one of Forbes 'Forbes 30 under 30' in 2020.

Merritt Moore was named Future-ish's 10th Miss Next Century in 2020.

Social Media

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>> Facebook
>> Instagram: @physicsonpointe | @sasters_squad
>> LinkedIn
>> Twitter: @physicsonpointe

Additional Reading

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• Butterfield, L. 2017. Women in science: A quantum ballerina dancing to the beat of her own drum. Oxford Science Blog.
• Campbell, C. S. 2018. PODCAST: Torn Between Two Passions? Choose Both. Forbes
• Knapton, S. 2017. Oxford physicist and professional ballerina battles to become astronaut in new BBC show. The Telegraph.
• Levine, A. 2018. Staying on Pointe: Physicist Twirls Her Way to Successful Ballet Career. APS News.
• Strul, J. 2010. Meet the Top 10 College Women of 2010: Amazing Women You Haven't Heard of…Yet! Glamour.
• Wikipedia

Culture Icon | Manalani Mili Hokoana English

Manalani Mili Hokoana English is a Hawaiian college student and Hula Dancer under the direction of na kumu hula Napua Greig and Kahulu Maluo of Kula, Hawaii located on Maui. English won the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2013 at the 50th annual Merrie Monarch Festival that takes place in Hilo, Hawaii located on the Big Island. Winning the title at age 24, English started dancing with her hula hālau 16 years earlier at the age of nine. English was runner up for the same title in 2011. In addition to winning the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2013, English was also awarded the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) Hawaiian Language Award. English is studying radiation technology at Kapiʻolani Community College in Honolulu. English is a scholar in the Maui-based Liko A'e Native Hawaiian Leadership Program program and - given the great cover of Landslide we found on YouTube - she is a fantastic singer too.

English was named as our third Miss Next Century in 2013.

Monster Role Model

Ramer started playing piano at five and took an interest in cars and engines about the same time alongside her Father, Kelvin Ramer who owns a auto towing company and drives monster trucks as well. Her own monster truck career started at age 14. What is most impressive is that Ramer plans to use the money she makes from driving the monster trucks to pursue an engineering degree at Stanford. Now at age 15, Ramer is the youngest professional female monster truck driver in the world and with the slogan "Living the Dream and chasing after more", she's out to prove that with a lot of hard work, anything is possible. YOU GO GIRL!

>> Ramer's Facebook Page.

AOL Morning Express picked up the story from HLN...

Sceleb and Culture Icon - Phillip Chbeeb

Not only can Phillip Chbeeb pop some moves on You Think You Can Dance he can calculate integrals too. That's right, Chbeeb may be one of season 5's top dancers, but he's also an engineering physics major at Loyala University. Chbeeb may just bring a whole new meaning to the field of 'spintronics'.

Emerging Minds - Alia Sabur

Alia Sabur recently became the worlds youngest professor at the age of 18...pretty impressive. But her Ph. D. in Materials Science Engineering from Drexel isn't all, she achieved her black belt in Tae Kwan Do when she was 9 and was identified as a child prodigy when she played clarinet in her first Mozart Concerto at age 11. After serving in a temporary position at Southern University in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Sabur is now a full professor in the Department of Advanced Technology Fusion at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea. Best of all, she has one of the most positive attitudes around and hopes to serve as a role model for young women around the world. We're going to go ahead and add to her laurels by naming her the world's youngest Renaissance Women too. We're guessing there will be many more firsts out of Ms. Alia.

Design Idol | Summer Rayne Oakes

A woman of both brains and beauty, model, activist, tv personality, and entrepreneur, Summer Rayne Oakes, is a true Future-ish "it girl". With degrees in environmental science and entomology from Cornell and lots of time in front of many cameras she speaks eloquently and energetically about her passion for people and the planet. Her audiences range from students and CEOs to producers and politicians making her truly a force of and for nature. Not confined to just social and environmental issues, in public settings Summer refers to herself as a "cause model" and explains that it is a role we all can take up when we find something we're passionate about.

One of her most recent accolades is winning the 2011 Cartier Women’s Initiative Award with co-founder Benita Singh for Source4Style, an online marketplace and community for sustainable textiles and other materials.

Oakes is one of our favorite Design Idols, was called out as one of our Emerging Minds in 2006, was one of the first individuals added to our Citizens of the Next Century List, and - in 2012 - was named as our second Ms. Next Century.

Learn more about her work at www.summerrayne.net or follow her on Twitter.

Emerging Minds - Nicole Lapin

Nicole Lapin first appeared on our radar in 2007 when we identified her as one of our 'Emerging Minds'. Today, she has become one of the most respected journalists in the news industry. A first generation American, she is the daughter of a former Nobel Prize nominee and a beauty queen. Nicole created her own American dream and serves a a role model for other young journalists by becoming the youngest anchor ever on CNN and, now, CNBC.

Nicole studied European Union politics at L'Institut d'Études Politique de Paris. She graduated summa cum laude and as valedictorian of her class from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, also earning honors for a second major in political science.

At 21, Nicole was tapped as one of the first anchors to launch CNN Pipeline. She served as a reporter for all of CNN's networks, including CNN/U.S., CNN Headline News and CNN International. With the idea that there are other young people like herself defying convention, Nicole launched a series called “Young People Who Rock.” Each week, she profiled a different person under 30, from community leaders to politicians and entrepreneurs. Her columns appeared on CNN.com every week, with broadcast interviews to follow.Expanding her reach as a positive young figure, Nicole created a campaign called “Being Smart is Cool” in partnership with the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. She was appointed global ambassador for the charity and traveled on its behalf to inspire youth to care about issues in the news. Nicole currently serves as an ambassador for other youth-driven organizations, including Operation Smile and DoSomething.

Nicole currently anchors "Worldwide Exchange," the only global show on CNBC, which airs in the United States, Europe and Asia. She reports live daily on breaking global financial news and geopolitics. Recently, she was the first CNBC anchor to report on the killing of Osama bin Laden and has anchored live coverage of the Japanese earthquake, the “Flash Crash” and the uprising in Egypt. In addition to anchoring “Worldwide Exchange,” Nicole is a regular contributor on MSNBC’s “Jansing & Co.” and “Morning Joe,” and serves as a personal finance expert on NBC’s “Today Show.” She also writes regular opinion pieces for the Huffington Post and USA Today, gaining acclaim for the correlation she drew between economic hardship and mental health issues following the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona. For her reporting, she picked up accolades from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Association of Women Journalists and Society of Professional Journalists, and the Radio Television News Directors Association, among others. She was also honored with a "Power 30 under 30" Award.

Design Idol & Culture Icon | Jessica Mauboy

Jessica Mauboy is an award-winning Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Her Father is Indonesian and her Mother is Kuku Yalanji, an indigenous tribe in the rainforest area of NW Queensland.

Mauboy was born into a musical family and was passionate about singing all through her childhood. Her public singing career started at age 14 when she won the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition in 2004. She was later runner up in Season 4 of Australian Idol in 2006. She joined the singing group, Young Divas, in 2007 and later released her first solo album in 2008. She started taking on product spokesperson roles in 2009 and by 2010 was acting in films, opening for performers such as Beyoncé Knowles and Chris Brown, and making plans to headline her own tours.

In 2012, Mauboy played the lead role and recorded much of the soundtrack for the movie The Sapphires, a film about four extraordinary Aboriginal women who toured Vietnam in the 1960s to entertain American and Australian troops. Still early in her singing and acting career, Mauboy has garnered multi-platinum records, won several acting awards, and has been a guest on many high-profile television shows including Oprah and Ellen.

Mauboy has participated in many charity events and concerts. In 2013, she became the Woolworths Earn & Learn Ambassador to raise awareness about the program that helps schools purchase educational, sporting, art, and musical supplies and equipment.