Is there a Guinness Record or something equivalent for the person who has the most number of technical qualifications (in diverse fields)?
By “technical” I mean recognized qualifications that give rise to careers in technical (or professional) positions?
Say for example someone who was a qualified lawyer, accountant, engineer and working computer scientist?
Who are the nominees?
Jubal Harshaw?
It might help interested parties answer the OP with the Straight Dope if he confined the question to “currently practicing” professionals or “retired” or “at any time”.
Becoming an attorney in most states in the US in 2005 is in some ways more challenging than it would have been in 1805. The same could be said of many professions.
Especially computer engineers.
Well, the current secretary of state has an impressive list of qualifications. But I was always impressed by the astronaut Story Musgrave. Astronaut (obviously) but also mathematician, operations analyst, pilot, electrician, parachutist, professor of physiology and surgeon. I suspect he doesn’t watch much television.
Okay, we’ll restrict the time frame to anyone who is currently alive and also those deceased as of 25 years ago. Obviously this includes those that are retired.
So basically a dude (or dette) who was dead anytime after 1980 will be fine. Those dead prior to 1980 will NOT be counted.
Pretty incredible.
Still I think television has taught me all those things.
Do your surgery patients know that?
Only those who watch ER.
Here is a google search to help you out.
[ul]
[li]degrees “(he|she) has 3…10 (doctorate|docorates|phds|phd)|(bas|bachelors|ba|bachelor)|(mas|masters|ma)”[/li][/ul]
You’ve restricted it to currently alive or recently died, so this isn’t an answer for you.
But historically, I think Leonardo Da Vinci would be a likely answer.
I don’t know that he had any ‘technical qualifications’, except for successfully doing things.
Just from memory, he was a fortfication designer, artillery designer, developer of artillary aiming theories, armorer, aeronautical engineer, water system engineer, scaffolding builder, bridge designer, and medical anatomist. To say nothing of some real accomplishments in non-technical fields, like painting, sculpting, murals, etc.
Funny ain’t it?
First I get ribbed for not being specific with the time frame. Then when I do get specific someone comes along and mentions a candidate outside the time frame.
Only on the SD.
Well, if we’re going to break the OP’s time frame, then I would say that Archimedes was a better example than Leonardo. Leo did design a lot of things, but he only made few of them, if any, and most of his designs wouldn’t have worked at all. Archimedes’ designs, however, did. I’m not sure that Leonardo can truly be called “qualified” at anything other than daydreaming and art, but Archimedes was a mathematician and a mechanical engineer, at least (and probably a lot of other fields that didn’t exist at the time).
My impression is that the last two answers (Archimedes and Leonardo da Vinci) are ignoring the OP’s restriction that only recognized qualifications count; I understand this as only academic degrees and comparable, standardized diploma as being included. Archimedes and Leonardo surely were bright guys, but they didn’t have any degrees.
alterego’s Google search should help here.
I imagine both Buckaroo Bonzai and Doc Savage, Man of Bronze must be on the list somewhere.
Unless we are imposing real-world restrictions 