During the Graduation Ceremony, I noticed that there is a guy in the Fordham JD Class of 2011 who already received an MD and a PhD before his JD. Which prompted me to make a cursory recollection of “degree collectors” (no pejorative meaning intended) that I have met or known in my life, in 5 categories: Double PhDs, JD+PhD, JD+MD, MD+PhD, and JD+MD+PhD. Comments and input very welcome on this thread, as I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg.
1. Double PhDs
Ming Huang, professor of finance @ Cornell and CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) (PhD in finance from Stanford and PhD in physics from Cornell)
Norman Schofield, professor of political science @ Washington U. in St. Louis (doctorates from Liverpool University, Universite de Caen and Essex University)
2. JD+PhD
a) Law Professors:
Edward Cheng, Vanderbilt (JD from Harvard, PhD in statistic from Columbia, in progress)
Albert Choi, Virginia (JD from Yale, PhD in economics from MIT)
David Law, Washington U. in St. Louis (JD from Harvard, PhD in political science from Stanford)
Thomas Lee, Fordham (JD from Harvard, PhD candidate in political science from Harvard)
Wentong Zheng, SUNY Buffalo (JD and PhD in economics from Stanford)
b) Economics Professors:
Michael Woodford, Columbia (JD from Yale, PhD in economics from MIT)
c) Law Firm Partners:
There are many law firm partners who have PhD degrees. Off the top of my head, here are two:
Steven Cui, Jun He (JD from Stanford, PhD from UIUC)
James Zhu, Jun He (JD from Columbia, PhD from Cal Tech)
d) Government Officials:
Bo Li, head of Monetary Policy Department II, People’s Bank of China (JD from Harvard, PhD from Stanford)
e) My friends at the law schools of Fordham, NYU, U. of Chicago, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, etc.
3. JD+MD
Elizabeth Tillinghast, Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry (JD from NYU, MD from Columbia)
Steven Yu, Kenyon & Kenyon (JD from George Mason, MD from Columbia)
4. MD+PhD
I guess numerous…I have a friend’s husband who got his PhD from Cambridge and MD from Stanford.
5. JD+MD+PhD
A guy in the Fordham JD Class of 2011…
PhD + PhD = PhD (only the last one counts); PhD + JD = career switching lawyer; MD + JD = medical doctor interested in law; JD + MD + PhD = nerd. Medical schools and law schools are often called “professional schools”, but grad school is not, where you could become anything or nothing. Law school in these combination is usually the last one, either due to disillusion of previous careers or simply because law school debt forbids more schooling. It is such a great equalizer that no matter what you are prior to it, you will be known as a lawyer for the rest of your life after it.
Interesting observations. Why does only the last PhD count? In the first example, Huang has a PhD in physics first and then a PhD in finance, I guess that’s two — maybe you are saying that he doesn’t do physics anymore? but that’s still a different PhD.
Many law professors of the younger generation do JD first and then a PhD. They mostly graduated from Harvard or Yale and don’t worry too much about their debts and thus have more freedom in pursuing their passions.
Isn’t an MD known as a doctor thereafter? Or people stop referring to her as a doctor after she halts medical practice?
I discounted the first of two PhDs because it was used as a stepping stone for the second one. A PhD is supposed to be a terminal degree. I actually like the idea of a second advanced degree as a prerequisite for teaching at law school. You don’t expect someone with a BS to teach in a college, why let a JD teach law? I know of a retired medical doctor who went to law school, just for fun. Maybe times are changing, but Americans still value medical school higher than law school.
I think it’s not a stepping stone – this guy just changed his mind and wanted to do finance rather than physics. Crazy crazy world
Also, your threshold for “nerd” is way too high! I think all five categories here qualify. In fact, by community standard, anyone who gets one “D” (no matter PhD, JD or MD) is already very nerdy.