Sharlene Wells Hawkes

Hawkes (née Wells), was born in Asunción, Paraguay and spent most of her childhood in Mexico, Chile and Ecuador. She was the first foreign-born, bilingual Miss America.[1] She spent most of her teenaged years in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[2] When she won the Miss America title, her parents were living in Holladay, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Being crowned Miss America was seen by some as an antidote to the scandal associated with the prior year's winner, Vanessa Williams.[3] In 1985, Deseret Book published a biography of Wells, written by Sheri Dew.

Hawkes is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). She attended Brigham Young University (BYU), from which she graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in communications.[4]

The choice of Wells as Miss America was widely seen as a way to overcome the scandal connected with her predecessor. Wells publicly stated her support for the reelection of Ronald Reagan and her opposition to abortion rights, pre-marital sex, and the Equal Rights Amendment.[5]

Hawkes is the author, or co-author, of several books. This includes a book written by Hawkes and Barbara Barrington Jones entitled The Inside Outside Beauty Book (1989), Living in but not of The World (1997), and Kissing a Frog: Four Steps to Finding Comfort Outside Your Comfort Zone. She is also a singer and has released albums called When We Will All Believe (1994) and Songs of the Morning Stars (1996).

Hawkes holds a master's degree in integrated marketing communications from the University of Utah.[6]

Hawkes was a horse racing and college football reporter with ESPN from 1987 to 2002.

Since 2007, Hawkes has worked to help veterans and their families. This includes a program to bring wives and daughters of veterans killed in the line of duty to the Miss America Pageant.[7]

In 2015 Hawkes was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Armed Forces.[8]

As of August 2016, Hawkes is serving as executive vice president of Story Rock Electronic Publishing, and as president of its military division, Remember My Service, producing historical records for military personnel.[9]

Hawkes served as a judge for the Miss America 2017 competition.[10]

• Knight-Ridder newspapers article on Wells
• BYU Magazine article on Hawkes
• Sep. 17, 1984 UPI article on Wells
• Ensign Nov. 1984 article on Wells
• Sun-Sentinel article on Wells
• Haws, J. B. The Mormon Image in the American Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. p. 155.