An 89-year-old man has graduated with a doctorate in physics from Brown University, demonstrating that age should not hold anyone back from their goals.
Manfred Steiner was awarded the physics degree in almost his 9th decade on Earth, but he has a long history of academic achievement, despite being held back by World War II and the collapsing economy of his youth.
Steiner grew up in Austria and lived as a teenager through the war. He then later experienced deep poverty and hardship in the post-war years. Eventually however, he made it to medical school and graduated as a medical doctor in 1955 from the University of Vienna, he then migrated to the United States in search of a better life. While in his new homeland, he studied hematology at Tufts University and eventually earned a doctorate in biochemistry in 1967 from the same university. However, his passion and dream was to learn more about physics, particularly as this was a time when so many ground-breaking discoveries were being made in the field.
We are proud to see Manfred Steiner earn national recognition for earning his Ph.D. at age 89. The love of knowledge knows no boundaries.https://t.co/rM5VZ4mrLf
— Brown Physics (@brown_physics) November 8, 2021
Steiner spent the next few decades at Brown University becoming assistant professor of the medical school. Retiring in 2000 after working in North Carolina, he returned to Rhode Island after a long successful career. His love for physics had not gone away. Steiner stated:
"Physics was always a part of me and when I retired from medicine and I was approaching age 70, I decided to enter the world of physics."
Slowly but surely, accounting for some health problems, Steiner picked up undergraduate credits and was admitted to the graduate physics program. From there, under the guidance of Professor Brad Marston, Steiner began work and research on bosonization, an effect in the quantum field. Steiner eventually published his piece "Corrections to the Geometrical Interpretation of Bosonization" and was granted his third Ph.D. Steiner said:
"I do not really regret it now. It was a good life and I made many great friends. It felt very good, particularly after I got my PhD and worked in academic medicine. But physics always lurked in the background."
He adds:
"It is important not to waste your older days. There is a lot of brainpower in older people and I think it can be of enormous benefit to younger generations."
[Based on reporting by: My Modern Met]
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