Swimsuit

5 Jaw-Dropping Photos of Miss Oregon USA Manju Bangalore in the Dominican Republic

The physicist and aspiring astronaut was a 2022 Swim Search finalist.

Ananya Panchal

Manju was photographed by Yu Tsai in the Dominican Republic.

Manju was photographed by Yu Tsai in the Dominican Republic.

Miss Oregon USA 2023 Manju Bangalore is the epitome of a multihyphenate. The physicist, writer and two-time nonprofit founder is also a scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM. The Indian-American model was also a Swim Search open casting call finalist last year. She was photographed by Yu Tsai in the Dominican Republic and walked in the Swimsuit runway show during Miami Swim Week.

“It is the honor of my life to be a part of the SI family,” the actor, poet and children’s book author said. “I’ve never felt more accepted by any brand, any organization, anyone in my entire life. My body, my personality, my platform, everything that I believe in has been reaffirmed by the SI family. The world is ours and we can touch any star we dream of. I hope I am inspiring women to take the leap of faith and pursue anything their heart dreams of, no matter what anyone else says. There still aren’t many Brown women in these spaces, so I wanted to not only represent my community as a South Indian woman, but I also wanted to remind the world that we never have to be just one thing.”

Bangalore is outspoken about how women in STEM are often placed into boxes and not allowed to be multidimensional—and she is working on changing that narrative.

Below are six incredible photos of the 2019 Miss World California in the Dominican Republic.

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Ananya Panchal

ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a NYC-based Lifestyle & Trending News writer at SI Swimsuit. Before joining the Swim team, the Boston University Alum worked for culture & entertainment beats at Bustle, The San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When Ananya is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, she can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast.