Quick Facts
Biography
Nana Meriwether (born May 24, 1985) is a two-time NCAA All-American UCLA volleyball player and Miss USA 2012. She represented Maryland at Miss USA 2012 and finished as 1st runner-up. On December 19, 2012 after Olivia Culpo won Miss Universe 2012, Nana assumed the title of Miss USA. Nana is currently Assistant to Glenda Bailey, the Editor-in-Chief of Harper's Bazaar. She has worked for and contributed to Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book, Vanity Fair, and Vogue Australia. Nana co-founded a 501 (c) (3) international non-profit organization, Meriwether Foundation that operates programs in health, education, nutrition and development in rural and impoverished communities of Southern Africa.
Pageantry
Miss California USA 2008
Meriwether competed in her 1st pageant for the Miss Universe Organization, Miss California USA 2008, representing Malibu, where she failed to place in the semifinals.
Miss California USA 2009
Nana returned to the Miss California USA stage in 2009, this time representing Beverly Hills, where she finished as 3rd runner-up to Carrie Prejean.
Miss California USA 2010
Meriwether competed in Miss California USA 2010 where she finished as 1st runner-up to Nicole Johnson.
Miss California USA 2011
Meriwether competed in the Miss California USA one last time in 2011 where she eventually finished as 4th runner-up to Alyssa Campanella.
Miss Maryland USA 2012
After competing in Miss California USA for 4 years, Nana decided to move back to her home state of Maryland where she entered Miss Maryland USA 2012 and won the title, gaining the right to represent the state at Miss USA.
Miss USA 2012
Meriwether represented Maryland at Miss USA 2012 where she eventually finished at 1st runner-up to Olivia Culpo of Rhode Island. On December 19, 2012, Olivia Culpo won the title of Miss Universe 2012. Due to pageant protocol, Miss USA must resign her title in order to fulfill her duties as Miss Universe. The 1st runner-up assumes the title of Miss USA, meaning that Meriwether is the new Miss USA 2012. After assuming the crown, Meriwether became the oldest contestant ever to be crowned Miss USA at the age of 27.
Personal life
Born in South Africa to an African American father and a South African mother who were doing volunteer work, she was raised in Potomac, Maryland and is a 2003 graduate of Sidwell Friends School. She attended Duke University for one semester, where her father Delano Meriwether had been the first African-American medical student. She transferred to UCLA in 2004, where she graduated and was twice named an All-American in volleyball. Following her collegiate career, Nana played professional volleyball in Puerto Rico for the Las Indias de Mayaguez. [1] She then started graduate school at USC. She previously participated in California pageants (2008–2011), and finished as high as second.