Kára McCullough Temple (; née McCullough) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss USA 2017 Miss USA 2017 was the 66th edition of the Miss USA pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada, on May 14, 2017. Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia crowned her successor Kára McCullough, also of the District ...

. As Miss USA, McCullough represented the United States at

Miss Universe 2017 Miss Universe 2017 was the 66th Miss Universe pageant, held at The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 26 November 2017. At the end of the event, Iris Mittenaere of France crowned Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa as Miss Unive ...

, where she placed in the Top 10. Previously, McCullough had been crowned

Miss District of Columbia USA The Miss District of Columbia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the District of Columbia in the Miss USA pageant. Four District of Columbia representatives have won the Miss USA title. Of those two, Deshauna Bar ...

2017, becoming the fourth woman from the District of Columbia to be crowned Miss USA. Additionally, McCullough and her predecessor

Deshauna Barber Deshauna Barber (born December 6, 1989) is an American motivational speaker, beauty pageant titleholder and captain in the United States Army Reserve. On June 5, 2016, she was crowned Miss USA 2016 by the outgoing titleholder Olivia Jordan of O ...

's wins marked the first time a state had won back-to-back titles since

Courtney Gibbs Courtney Ann Gibbs-Mokarow (née Gibbs; born August 20, 1966) is an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1988 and Top 10 semifinalist at Miss Universe 1988. Miss USA Born to Charles Gaylord Gibbs and Susan Eck ...

and

Gretchen Polhemus Gretchen Lynn Polhemus-Jensen (born May 12, 1965) is an American actress, journalist, tv host and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1989 and second runner-up to . Early life Prior to competing in Miss Texas USA, Jensen was working as a ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

won Miss USA 1988 and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Early life and education

McCullough was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy to Betty Ann Parker and Artensel E. McCullough Sr. Her mother was a member of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for 23 years, and McCullough thus lived in various places such as

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, South Korea, Japan, and Hawaii. She was later raised and completed high school in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

. McCullough attended the

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is the only public, historically black land-grant research university in South Carolina, is a member o ...

, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry with a concentration in

radiochemistry Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads t ...

and served as the school's 75th Miss South Carolina State University. While a student, she was a member of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, the

Health Physics Society The Health Physics Society (HPS) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization whose mission is excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety. It is based in the United States and the specific purposes of the society's activi ...

, and the

American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities: ...

. She has been inducted into the

Golden Key International Honour Society The Golden Key International Honour Society (formerly Golden Key National Honor Society) is an international collegiate honor society and non-profit organization based in the United States. It was founded in 1977 to recognize academic achievement ...

and the

National Society of Black Engineers The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a society that was founded in 1975 at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the United States, with core activities centered ...

. Prior to becoming Miss USA, McCullough worked as an emergency preparedness specialist in the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the ...

's Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response.

Pageantry

Prior to winning Miss District of Columbia USA 2017, she was the first runner-up for

twice, in 2015 and 2016, respectively, to Lizzy Olsen and Deshauna Barber. In 2017, she was crowned Miss District of Columbia USA 2017 by Miss USA 2016 Barber. On May 14, 2017, McCullough competed in the

pageant in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. She went on to win the competition, beating out first runner-up Chhavi Verg of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and second runner-up Meridith Gould of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. During her time at Miss USA, McCullough received media attention and praise for deciding to compete with her

natural hair The natural hair movement is a movement which aims to encourage people of African descent to embrace their natural, afro-textured hair, especially in the workplace. It originated in the United States during the 1960s, and resurged in popularity ...

, which was seen as support for the

natural hair movement The natural hair movement is a movement which aims to encourage people of African descent to embrace their natural, afro-textured hair, especially in the workplace. It originated in the United States during the 1960s, and resurged in popularity ...

. McCullough was both criticized and praised for her conservative question answers, stating that health care was a privilege for the working and not a right, in addition to calling herself an "

equalist Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...

" as opposed to a feminist. She is the seventh Miss USA titleholder born outside the United States. As Miss USA, McCullough represented the United States at

on November 26, 2017, in Las Vegas. McCullough reached the top ten of the competition before being eliminated. The winner of the competition was

Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Demi-Leigh Tebow ( ; née Nel-Peters; born 28 June 1995) is a South African model and beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2017. She was crowned Miss South Africa 2017, and the second Miss Universe winner from South ...

of South Africa. On May 21, 2018, McCullough crowned Sarah Rose Summers as her successor at the

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. The pageant was held at the same venue that was used for Miss USA 1997. Kára McCullough of Washington, D.C., Dis ...

competition, held in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

Personal life

In 2020, McCullough married professional basketball player

Garrett Temple Garrett Bartholomew Temple (born May 8, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers. High school career Temple attende ...

, in a private ceremony. They have two children. Temple's father-in-law is

Collis Temple Collis Temple Jr. (born November 8, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player for Louisiana State University and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Career College The Kentwood, Louisiana native was the first African-American t ...

, a former professional basketball player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCullough, Kára Living people 1991 births African-American chemists American beauty pageant winners American women scientists Miss Universe 2017 contestants Miss USA 2017 delegates Miss USA winners South Carolina State University alumni Models from Washington, D.C. Scientists from Washington, D.C. African-American beauty pageant winners Models from Naples 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people