# Any famous people you were astonished to learn had a Ph. D ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161 "2002-07-03T04:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/21 "2002-07-03T21:01:37Z")
The reviews of Cosby’s PhD dissertation I have seen indicate that it is fairly crappy. Not up to real dissertation standards. He seems to have been awarded degrees on the “let’s make this guy an alumni asap 'cause he has dough and is famous.” Citing “Fat Albert” is not a good sign. James Wood attended MIT and nearly got a degree. Dropped out just short of graduation for acting. I know several people who were his classmates. I tell you, MIT does strange things to people … ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/22 "2002-07-03T21:08:51Z")
Howard Cosell had a law degree before he got into broadcasting. ---
**Author:** ![Sands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sands)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/23 "2002-07-03T21:10:20Z")
This isn’t exactly what the OP was asking, but I was pretty surprised to learn that Peter Jennings didn’t graduate from High School! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/24 "2002-07-04T02:18:50Z")
The Wrong Girl writes: \> Dexter Holland, the lead singer of the band The Offspring, is \> one credit shy of getting his Ph.D in microbiology at USC, I \> believe. I’m sorry, but that’s incoherent. To earn a Ph.D., you have to write a thesis, and the defense of the thesis is always the last step in getting the Ph.D. (The defense is the session when your committee, having read the thesis, quizzes you about it and votes on whether to accept it.) You wouldn’t be allowed to go into a defense if you hadn’t already finished all your course work. In fact, you couldn’t even get your department to accept the subject of your thesis without having finished your course work. It’s possible that you might start informally doing the research for the thesis before finishing all the courses, but you wouldn’t formally start writing it before then. I assume that what’s actually meant is that Dexter Holland was 1 credit short of having finished his course work for the Ph.D. Only after getting that last credit would he have actually have started on the research for the thesis. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/25 "2002-07-04T02:26:23Z")
I’ve always been surprised when people have insisted that Dubya _does_ have a high school diploma. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/26 "2002-07-04T02:57:55Z")
And of course, Ron Jeremy (the porn person) has a master degree, in special education I believe. Dr. Jack Ramsay, of NBA coaching fame, really is a doctor. He received a Ph.D in education in 1963. I don’t know how legit it was, but he received it from a different university (UPenn) than where he was coaching at the time (St. Joseph’s). ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/27 "2002-07-04T03:35:11Z")
Pat Robertson has a law degree from Yale. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/28 "2002-07-04T04:44:17Z")
**Doctor Frank** of the [b}Mr. T Experience\*\* scored perfect on his SATs and majored in Classics at UC Berkeley. This positively brilliant man went on to spend his life (he’s in his fourties now, I believe) singing silly but increadably well written pop punk songs about girls to generation after generation of teen age punk rockers. He did turn his Junior thesis into a song- The Complicated History of the Concept of the Soul. It just amazes me that this well educated, fairly old guy is still making a living playing to hundred person crowds in grundgy clubs. It all kind of gives me hope. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161/29 "2002-07-04T10:21:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by obfusciatrist \* > \*\*Dr. Jack Ramsay, of NBA coaching fame, really is a doctor. He received a Ph.D in education in 1963. I don’t know how legit it was, but he received it from a different university (UPenn) than where he was coaching at the time (St. Joseph’s). \*\* Thank you. I’ve often wondered about his title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-people-you-were-astonished-to-learn-had-a-ph-d/117161.md?page=1)