Judith Eckerle ’98 photo by Kary Shuda

Illinois Wesleyan Alumna Competing for Miss USA Title

March 19, 2003

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Judith Eckerle, a member of Illinois Wesleyan's Class of 1998, will be competing this week in the Miss USA competition in San Antonio, Tex. The finals of the pageant will be televised nationally by NBC on March 24 at 8 p.m. (CST).

Eckerle, a third-year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is the reigning Miss Wisconsin USA.

The forthcoming spring issue of the Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine will feature a story on Eckerle's experiences. Written by Sarah Hedgespeth '04, the article explains that one of Eckerle's primary motivations for competing is to obtain international exposure in her continuing search for her birth parents.

Eckerle, who majored in biology and music at Illinois Wesleyan, was adopted as an infant in Korea. Her post-medical school plans are to work as a pediatrician at an international adoption clinic.