# Celebrities with REAL (Not Honorary) Doctorates **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613 "2007-02-17T14:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/101 "2014-09-16T16:25:16Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > This is an old thread, I know, but it came up on a google search for celebrities with doctorates. I figured it was worth a bump for an update on one of my favorite actors, who was mentioned earlier in this thread: > > Congratulations to Peter Weller, PhD! > > From [Peter Weller’s Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Weller): > > (do you think he minds if people call him Dr. Robocop?) Perhaps Dr. Banzai? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/102 "2014-09-16T20:15:27Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Dolph Lundgren has a masters in chemical engineering. A fact which was alluded to in _The Expendables 2_. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/103 "2014-09-17T07:18:57Z")
Ken Jeong from _The Hangover_ movies and _Community_ is an M.D. Auto racing and college football commentator Jerry Punch is an M.D. He administered first aid to NASCAR drivers Rusty Wallace and Ernie Irvan after serious crashes while working as a pit reporter. TV host and comedian Matt Iseman (_Clean House, American Ninja Warrior_) is an M.D. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/104 "2014-09-17T08:29:40Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > How many celebrities can you think of who have earned actual Ph. D’s from actual universities? > > Academics who’ve become famous writers (Isaac Asimov, Richard Dawkins, et al.) aren’t really what I’m looking for. Rather, are there any famous musicians, actors, novelists and such who happen to have gone to graduate school and earned doctorates? > > I know Bill Cosby got a Ph. D. in education, and Queen guitarist Brian May was in a doctoral program for astronomy (not sure whether he ever actually received the degree). Any others like that come to mind? Yes, I know this thread is seven years old, but since it was posted, Brian May was awarded his doctorate in 2008. So you may now call the composer of “Fat Bottomed Girls” Dr. May. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/105 "2014-09-17T08:47:26Z")
Ditto-- since the thread was started, Mayim Bialik has finished her Ph.D in neurobiology. Her dissertation topic was the role of the hypothalamus in Prader-Willi syndrome. I’d actually read that dissertation. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/106 "2014-09-17T11:37:29Z")
In addition to what I said in post #98 (which wasn’t quite correct), let me note that there is now a book about the invention of frequency-hopping, _Hedy’s Folly_ by Richard Rhodes. The interesting thing is that Mayim Bialik has a Ph.D. in neuroscientist and plays a neuroscientist. It appears to me from the news stories I’ve found that Dolph Lundgren didn’t use his chemical engineering degree in _Expendables 2_. In fact, he apparently suggested that the filmmakers change a scene because it wouldn’t work scientifically, and they ignored him. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/107 "2014-09-17T15:18:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It appears to me from the news stories I’ve found that Dolph Lundgren didn’t use his chemical engineering degree in _Expendables 2_. In fact, he apparently suggested that the filmmakers change a scene because it wouldn’t work scientifically, and they ignored him. Don’t know what scene you’re referring to but in the one I’m thinking of, his character’s idea did not work. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/108 "2014-09-17T15:30:32Z")
For what it’s worth, jokes do manage to survive the editors and get into citation lists. My old advisor and his (then) postdoc once managed to slip in a citation to Scotty, the Enterprise’s engineer. I’m still not sure if it survived peer review because the reviewers got it, or because they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/109 "2014-09-17T16:33:49Z")
Dr. Victoria Zdrok. B.A. age 18, J.D., PhD. Clinical Psychology, Playboy Playmate of the Month Oct 1994, Penthouse Pet of the Year 2004, and adult film star. VA VA VOOM!! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/110 "2014-09-17T17:07:54Z")
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, brothers who each have held a world heavyweight boxing title, also both have PhD’s in physical education from Kyiv University of Physical Science and Sports. Vitali is now Mayor of Kyiv. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/111 "2014-09-18T06:01:36Z")
Woody Paul Chrisman, the fiddle player in Riders In The Sky, has a Ph.D. in theoretical plasma physics from MIT. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2014, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/112 "2014-09-18T10:54:36Z")
Skywatcher, various news stories say that Lundgren told the filmmakers that their idea for a bomb wouldn’t work and they ignored him: > **[Dolph Lundgren Almost Ran For Parliament](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dolph-lundgren-expendables-2-he-man_n_1771346)** > > Dolph Lundgren Almost Ran For Parliament > **[Dolph Lundgren Used Chemical Engineering Degree On Expendables 2 Set](https://www.contactmusic.com/dolph-lundgren/news/dolph-lundgren-used-chemical-engineering-degree-on-expendables-2-set_1379460)** > > Dolph Lundgren found his chemical engineering degree came in handy on 'The Expendables 2' set. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/113 "2014-09-18T11:18:02Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Ken Jeong from _The Hangover_ movies and _Community_ is an M.D. And from what I understand he maintains all his credentials and is fully licensed in California. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/114 "2014-09-18T16:49:06Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Skywatcher, various news stories say that Lundgren told the filmmakers that their idea for a bomb wouldn’t work and they ignored him: And the bomb didn’t work as intended so I don’t know what your point is. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/115 "2014-09-18T16:53:09Z")
Ronan Tynan of the Irish Tenors, formerly the New York Yankees’ “God Bless America” singer, is an MD with a prosthetics practice. He is also a multi-medalist at the Special Olympics in track events, despite having no feet. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/116 "2014-09-18T17:10:24Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > Although he never earned a doctorate, I was a bit surprised to to see Herbert Hoover’s name on an English translation of Georgius Agricola’s [De Re Metallica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica) , translated from the Latin edition of 1556. Before entering politics, he was a very successful mining engineer. Extremely successful, in fact: He was a self-made orphan (er, an orphan and self-made millionaire) who was actually richer than his successor, FDR. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/117 "2014-09-18T17:34:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For what it’s worth, jokes do manage to survive the editors and get into citation lists. My old advisor and his (then) postdoc once managed to slip in a citation to Scotty, the Enterprise’s engineer. I’m still not sure if it survived peer review because the reviewers got it, or because they didn’t. Did they source him as an authority of the fact that you cannae change the laws of physics? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/118 "2014-09-18T18:00:53Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > (do you think he minds if people call him Dr. Robocop?) “Dead or Alive, turn your head to the left and cough…! Would you like me to check your… motility?” “Jeez, doc, your hands are freezing…!” “Come quietly or there will be… trouble…” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/119 "2014-09-18T18:08:43Z")
The most surprising one that I know of is former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. He received his doctorate in education in 2012. > **[Call Him Dr. Shaq: Shaquille O’Neal Earns Ph.D | TIME.com](https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/08/call-him-dr-shaq-shaquille-oneal-earns-ph-d/)** > > In case you missed it: One of the NBA's most colorful characters got a new title and a new nickname over the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613/120 "2014-09-18T18:17:34Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The interesting thing is that Mayim Bialik has a Ph.D. in neuroscientist and plays a neuroscientist. She plays a neuroscientist, but her degree is in neurobiology. There’s some distinction. I think her actual field is the biological bases of behavior, while her character studies neurons, or organ structures (eg, the hypothalamus) composed of neurons. I heard her discuss it in an interview once, but my personal experience is limited to a single neurobiology class I took in college to fulfill a science requirement. I also needed a 300-level class, and it sounded interesting. It was for biology/psychology (cross-listed) majors, and the math was a little above me, and I got a C- (but if I’d gotten a D-, still would have counted). It was my senior year. Anyway, the class was very interesting. Our grade was based on scores on four exams, and that was it, or I probably would have done better. I remember a lot of the information, like labeling the structures in the brain, but the math problems regarding balancing sodium chemistry…\*…choke…did me in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-with-real-not-honorary-doctorates/392613.md?page=7)