Pageant queen gets Ph.D.

Jung Eun-joo

Whoever said you can’t have both brains and beauty should meet Jung Eun-joo.
A third-place winner in the Miss Korea contest in 1990, Jung has just received her doctorate in chemistry from Wonkwang University.
“My experience in the Miss Korea pageant gave me the pride to do my best,” Jung said.
The road to becoming both a pageant queen and Ph.D. began in 1997, when Jung, now 29, was a freshman at Wonkwang Health Science College. On a whim, she entered the preliminary beauty pageant in Gwangju, and won. Then, she took third place in the nationwide finals.
With a crown in her clutches, Jung enrolled in the Department of English and Literature at Wonkwang University to earn her bachelor’s degree. Upon graduation, however, Jung decided to change course in her studies.
When courses in chemistry for cosmetics opened up at Chung-Ang University, Jung headed there to pursue the hard sciences.
“I’ve been interested in cosmetics since I was young,” Jung said, “so when the opportunity came, I decided to dive deep into my studies.”
It wasn’t easy for Jung, but she emerged with a master’s degree, then continued her studies at Wonkwang. Once her Ph.D. dissertation, “The Physiologically Active Ingredient of the Indian Strawberry and Its Relevance to Cosmetics,” was approved, her degree became a reality.
Since 2005, Jung has worked as a lecturer at Wonkwang University and Wonkwang Health Science College. Now with a Ph.D., Jung hopes to become a professor in the chemistry of cosmetics.
Yonhap