Is Brad Pitt a particle physicist?

July 24, 2006 7:12 AM

In order to inspire my pupils, and demonstrate to them that studying science does not mean you have to become a scientist, I'm trying to compile a list of famous people with science-related qualifications (bachelors degrees and better, preferably). I'm specifically interested in those with physics, chemistry or biology qualifications (or variations thereof, e.g. biochemistry, astrophysics) but if it turns out that Orlando Bloom has a degree in geology or Christina Aguilera is an expert neuroscientist then I'll take them too.

This is who I have so far:

Physics:
Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead), Angela Merkel (German Chancellor), Jonathan Edwards (triple-jump world record holder), Tim Berners Lee (inventor of the world wide web), Helen Willets (BBC weather forecaster), Robert Moog (inventor of the synthesiser), Ehud Barak (former Israeli Prime Minister) and Brian Mawhinney (Chairman, British Football League).

Biology:
Lisa Kudrow (actress)

Chemistry:
Janet Reno (US AG) and Margaret Thatcher (former UK prime minister).

I'm specifically not interested in those who tried but failed, so for example James Cameron (physics) and Cindy Crawford (chemical engineering) are out.

P.S. Please, no "Britney Spears has a degree in semiconductor physics" posts.

posted by alby to Science & Nature (70 answers total)

Response by poster: Sorry, that introduction paragraph screwed-up on posting.
posted by alby at 7:13 AM on July 24, 2006

Queen guitarist Bryan May (Maths and Physics, was a PhD student when Queen got famous so he never got the doctorate though).
posted by handee at 7:14 AM on July 24, 2006

Here's a list of musicians with advanced degrees. Some are scientists.
posted by goatdog at 7:15 AM on July 24, 2006

I know Natalie Portman and Marcia Cross have psych degrees. I think Cross has done sme clinical work even.
posted by delmoi at 7:16 AM on July 24, 2006

I didn't check the list goatdog posted, so this may be old news, but Dexter/Brian Holland from The Offspring has a Phd in molecular biology.

It's somewhere in the third paragraph. Good luck!
posted by rex dart, eskimo spy at 7:17 AM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

swiping from Wikipedia:

"Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received U.S. patent #2,292,387 for their Secret Communication System. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam.....

Lamarr's frequency-hopping idea served as the basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology used in devices ranging from cordless telephones to WiFi Internet connections. In 1997, the two of them received an EFF Pioneer Award for the invention."
posted by Lucinda at 7:18 AM on July 24, 2006

Oh snaps! How could I have listed The Offspring and forgot all about Milo?? Thanks for the list, goatdog.

Milo goes to College indeed. I'm such an ass.
posted by rex dart, eskimo spy at 7:19 AM on July 24, 2006

Jimmy Carter had a Bachelor's of Science, and did some nuclear physics related work.
posted by phrontist at 7:22 AM on July 24, 2006

Joe Kernen, who is an anchor on CNBC, has a master's in Molecular Biology from MIT.
posted by mckenney at 7:23 AM on July 24, 2006

David X. Cohen and practically every single other Futurama screenwriter have physics/math degrees (which is why it's such a bloody fantastic show).
posted by phrontist at 7:24 AM on July 24, 2006

Response by poster: Added Brian May, 'Dexter Offspring' and Jimmy Carter to the list.

goatdog - That list is awesome, don't know how I missed that one. Now I need the same for actors, politicians and sportsmen.
posted by alby at 7:27 AM on July 24, 2006

I didn't see Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) on goatdog's link to musicians with degrees:

"On June 8, 2006, after fifteen years in and out of schools of higher learning, Cuomo graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Literature. He was elected a member of the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa in his final year."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_Cuomo

American Lit, not science or anything, but still...
posted by sprocket87 at 7:28 AM on July 24, 2006

Danica McKellar of "Wonder Years" fame, has a degree in mathematics.

Most astronauts would probably qualify. Here's one.

Some notable MIT Alumni, notice the "Car Talk" guys, a princess of Thailand, and one of the original members of Boston, amongst others.

Famous engineers. (Scott Adams of Dilbert?, Pres. Jimmy Carter?, Roger Corman!?) You'll want to verify these.

There is also a great list of famous people with philosophy degrees. After all, science was founded in and by philosophers.
posted by oddman at 7:28 AM on July 24, 2006

Dolph Lundgren "...attended the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, later received a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney, and was eventually awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to MIT."
posted by ericb at 7:37 AM on July 24, 2006 [2 favorites]

Oh, darn you oddman, I was going to post the Danica McKellar story. :( Proof that math nerds are *HAWT*.
posted by SpecialK at 7:38 AM on July 24, 2006

the father of metafilter has some degrees in environmental science i believe.
posted by th3ph17 at 7:40 AM on July 24, 2006

Dolph Lundgren has a Masters in Chemical Engineering.
posted by edd at 7:43 AM on July 24, 2006

I clearly spent too long writing that, so I'll follow up by pointing out that, as you're in the UK, you might get away with Myleene Klass who is working on her astronomy degree.
posted by edd at 7:47 AM on July 24, 2006

Paul Verhoeven, the director, has a degree in maths and physics.
posted by edd at 7:53 AM on July 24, 2006

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (won the world series of poker in 2000) dropped out of the PhD program in Computer Science at UCLA to play poker professionally. I'm guessing he's ABD (all but dissertation) since he was there for 13 years.
posted by jtfowl0 at 7:54 AM on July 24, 2006

errrr...upon preview, it seems that Ferguson left UCLA at the school's request, not his own.
posted by jtfowl0 at 7:56 AM on July 24, 2006

Another film director and another chemical engineer.
posted by edd at 7:58 AM on July 24, 2006

Not intended to derail, but I wish you could that it might be okay to become a scientist, rather than just that they don't have to be scientists if they study science.
posted by grobstein at 8:00 AM on July 24, 2006

Response by poster: Wow! What can I say? Sometimes AskMefi is just the right place to go. Keep 'em coming!

I'm gonna be making a big poster for these so I'll post a follow-up when that's done.
posted by alby at 8:07 AM on July 24, 2006

If you're willing to extend your net to mathematics, then Loyola math department's "famous nonmathematicians" page will be of some help.
posted by jacobm at 8:08 AM on July 24, 2006

Poet A. R. Ammons had a degree in Biology from Wake Forest University (North Carolina, United States). At least some of his poems focus on the natural world, and his serious study of biology may have helped him appreciate nature more.

I loved the end of his poem "Corson's Inlet" when I encountered it in college:

        I see narrow orders, limited tightness, but will
not run to that easy victory:
        still around the looser, wider forces work:
        I will try
    to fasten into order enlarging grasps of disorder, widening
scope, but enjoying the freedom that
Scope eludes my grasp, that there is no finality of vision,
that I have perceived nothing completely,
            that tomorrow a new walk is a new walk.

Here's a long critical article on that poem:

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/ammons/inlet.htm
posted by amtho at 8:09 AM on July 24, 2006 [2 favorites]

Mayim Bialik (Blossom) is working on a PhD in Neuroscience.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2006

Apparently Margaret Thatcher's scientific claim to fame was inventing a method for injecting air into ice cream, and the lighter product was then sold at a premium.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:25 AM on July 24, 2006

Iron Butterfly bassist Phillip Taylor Kramer worked on the MX missle with his night school degree in aerospace engineering
posted by horsemuth at 8:29 AM on July 24, 2006

Mr Whippy in fact
posted by A189Nut at 8:30 AM on July 24, 2006

Tremendous irony: Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino play dumb blondes in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

Kudrow has a degree in biology from Vassar. Sorvino graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in East Asian Studies, speaks fluent Mandarin and has won an Oscar.
posted by frogan at 8:32 AM on July 24, 2006 [2 favorites]

Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) has a degree in Chemical Engineering, and when on Charlie Rose he said that despite acting success, Chemical Engineering would always be his first love, I knew he was a really awesome dude.
posted by Hildago at 8:38 AM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

Marion Barry, former Washington, D.C., mayor has a master's in organic chemistry. But maybe this isn't exactly what you're looking for....
posted by WyoWhy at 8:39 AM on July 24, 2006

A friend of mine recently told me that Jack Nicholson has a degree in chemistry, but I can't find any confirmation of this online. Perhaps someone else's Google-fu is up to the task, but I expect this is apocrypha. Only mentioned in case it's true, and someone can cite a source for the OP's benefit.
posted by junkbox at 8:45 AM on July 24, 2006

Ashton Kutcher - degree in biochemical engineering
Frank Capra - degree in chemical engineering
posted by iconomy at 8:50 AM on July 24, 2006

The folkish singer Lucy Kaplansky has a PhD in psychology and worked as a clinical psychologist for several years before returning to music.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:04 AM on July 24, 2006

Mathematics: Matt Stone, of South Park.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 9:25 AM on July 24, 2006

Alan Henderson, currently a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has a degree in Biology from Indiana University and plans to go to medical school once his NBA days are over. (He's already been accepted.)

Michael Haynes, defensive end for the Chicago Bears, has a degree in animal sciences from Penn State and is working on his masters in zoo and aquarium management.

Craig Krenzel, quarterback of Ohio State's 2002 national championship team who played in the NFL for a couple years, graduated with a degree in molecular genetics, got all sorts of academic awards while in college, and plans to go to medical school.
posted by SisterHavana at 9:27 AM on July 24, 2006

According to the commentary track, 2 or 3 of the writers for Futurama have PHDs in Mathematics.
posted by Riemann at 9:36 AM on July 24, 2006

BTW, Dexter Holland of the Offspring doesn't have a PhD, He's a PhD candidate.

Novelest Barbara Kingslover has a bachelors and a masters in Biology, but left her PhD program.
posted by Good Brain at 9:36 AM on July 24, 2006

Jonathan Kellerman is a psychologist with a PhD from USC, but he's much better known for his mystery novels, most of which feature child psychologist Alex Delaware.
posted by SisterHavana at 9:37 AM on July 24, 2006

Peter Weller (Robocop) holds a master's degree in Roman and Renaissance art and is working toward a Ph.D. One of Syracuse University's most popular professors. from IMDB
posted by Justin Case at 9:40 AM on July 24, 2006

Dot Richardson, Olympian and 2-time gold medalist in softball, is an orthopedic surgeon. (Her bachelor's degree is in kinesiology.)
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:43 AM on July 24, 2006

Some others:

Mystery novelest Alafair Burke has a Bachelors degree in Psych.

Writer Barbara Ehrenreich has a Bachelors in Chem & Physics
posted by Good Brain at 9:46 AM on July 24, 2006

Eric Heiden, of Olympic speedskating fame, and Debi Thomas, the first African-American to win a winter Olmypic medal, are both orthopedic surgeons, but I can't find any info on what their undergrad degrees are in.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:51 AM on July 24, 2006

Off topic (as there is no science involved), but I've always been impressed with Kris Kristofferson's background.

He "was a Golden Gloves boxer and went to Pomona College in California. From there, he earned a Rhodes scholarship to study literature at Oxford. [In 1960, Kristofferson graduated with a master's degree in English literature]. He ultimately joined the army and achieved the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot...In 1965 he resigned his commission to pursue songwriting. He had just been assigned to become a teacher at West Point."
posted by ericb at 9:59 AM on July 24, 2006

Interestingly, the "Famous Nonmathematician" page that neglects to mention that jacobm mentions neglects to list Ahmad Chalabi, who has a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago.
posted by mhum at 10:21 AM on July 24, 2006

"Membership of the 109th Congress - A Profile" doesn't name names, but it does contain this information about Congress members' former occupations:
There are "12 medical doctors (including a psychiatrist), three dentists, three nurses, two veterinarians, two psychologists, an optometrist, and one pharmacist"
also
"two physicists, two chemists, a biomedical researcher, a biomedical engineer, a geologist, and a microbiologist."
posted by SisterHavana at 10:29 AM on July 24, 2006

Jimmy Carter, mentioned above, did some work toward a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, but left to run the family peanut farm after his father died.

Rush Holt, Congressman from New Jersey, has a Ph.D. in Physics from NYU, taught at Swarthmore, and was Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Milo Aukerman, singer for the hardcore/punk band The Descendents, has a Ph.D. from UW Madison in biochemistry, worked for a national laboratory (Argonne?), and now works for DuPont Crop Genetics (he does arabidopsis genetics research... seriously).

Giada De Laurentiis, of Food Network fame and daughter of Dino De Laurentiis, has a BA in Anthropology from UCLA.

Brad Pitt is NOT a particle physicist, but he has a deep interest in architecture. He (may or may not be part of a Frank Gehry project). He is currently sponsoring a design contest for rebuilding in New Orleans.
posted by The Michael The at 10:35 AM on July 24, 2006

Rush Holt, Congressman from New Jersey, has a Ph.D. in Physics from NYU, taught at Swarthmore, and was Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Rush, besides being a fantastic congressional representative, has the best bumper stickers I've ever seen. They read: "My congressman is a rocket scientist."
posted by maxreax at 10:53 AM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite]

Rush Holt, Congressman from New Jersey, has a Ph.D. in Physics

David Price (NC) and Dan Lipinski (IL) have PhDs in political science. Lipinski also has a BS, and IIRC MS, in engineering. Dick Armey has an econ phd.

Wossname who sings for Bad Religion has a PhD in sociology or zoology.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:12 AM on July 24, 2006

As discussed on MeFi, "Skunk" Baxter, although he doesn't have a degree that I know of, is a missile defense consultant for the pentagon.

If you listened to popular radio in the late 60's-early 70's until today, you have certainly heard tunes produced or engineered by Tom Dowd (worked with the Allman Brothers, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, and many, many others) Before becoming a recording engineer he was a physicist on the Manhattan Project. He did not get a degree from Columbia as he planned to, because most of the work he did with the army remained classified until well after the war. The entire story is told in the film Tom Dowd and the Language of Music.
posted by TedW at 11:20 AM on July 24, 2006

Tom Scholz (mentioned earlier as "one of the musicians from Boston), has a master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT.
posted by plinth at 11:31 AM on July 24, 2006

Vitali Klitschko has a PhD in Sports Medicine and Philosophy.

His brother Wladimir also has the same degrees.
posted by porpoise at 11:43 AM on July 24, 2006

Eric Heiden, of Olympic speedskating fame, and Debi Thomas, the first African-American to win a winter Olmypic medal, are both orthopedic surgeons

So is Dot Richardson, USA Softball medalist.

Mark Spitz was going to be a dentist, but after the Olympics, he traded that idea in for endorsements and real estate.

I actually think you'd find a lot of science among the Olympic athletes, if you looked hard enough.
posted by frogan at 11:51 AM on July 24, 2006

Wossname who sings for Bad Religion has a PhD in sociology or zoology.

That would be Greg Graffin, who has a masters in Geology and a Ph.D in evolutionary paleontology.
posted by Drunken_munky at 11:51 AM on July 24, 2006

Joe Juneau, former pro hockey player, has a bachelors degree in aeronautical engineering.
posted by yqxnflld at 12:31 PM on July 24, 2006

Greg Graffin of Bad Religion has a PhD in evolutionary paleontology.

on preview: shoot!
posted by jammer at 1:20 PM on July 24, 2006

Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" has a B.S. in kinesiology from Texas A&M University - Kingsville.

(I found this out from the May 2006 issue of Shape magazine, but it's also mentioned briefly in her IMDB profile.)
posted by invisible ink at 3:16 PM on July 24, 2006

Colin Powell, BS in Geology from CCNY.

The late Chief Justice was a meteorologist in the Air Force.

And did anyone mention that Sen. Bill Frist is a heart surgeon? (I can hear Mefites booing)
posted by Brian James at 4:02 PM on July 24, 2006

Colin Powell, BS in Geology from CCNY.

Ehhh ... read his autobiography. He admits to choosing geology after the ROTC guys deliberately steered him to it because it was considered to be one of the easiest programs at the school, at the time.

His words, not mine. CCNY could be very different now, I don't know.
posted by frogan at 4:15 PM on July 24, 2006

Yes, frogan, I mentioned Dot two posts prior to the one you quoted.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:44 PM on July 24, 2006

kinesiology is another one that, in my experience, has a reputation for being a "fluff" major.
posted by rudyfink at 10:10 PM on July 24, 2006

Response by poster: In case anyone is still watching this thread you can download a copy of the poster I made (523KB .png). I've also got a copy as .svg if anyone is that interested.

Still not completely happy with the font I've used at the top, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased with the end result.
posted by alby at 7:15 AM on July 25, 2006

That's pretty cool, alby. Too bad you didn't use Ashton Kutcher though - that's a real wtf if you ask me.

I think doing the top by hand would be more effective than a font, but still in all, that's pretty cool. I'd like to know their reactions to the poster.
posted by iconomy at 11:40 AM on July 25, 2006

I know that Cindy Crawford went to Northwestern for chemical engineering. Not sure if she completed her degree, though.
posted by cynthia_rose at 6:43 PM on July 25, 2006

And now I just read the bottom of the post. Sorry about that...
posted by cynthia_rose at 6:44 PM on July 25, 2006

1. I'm not sure if Kutcher finished his degree at University of Iowa before starting his modeling/acting career.

2. The guy who does the "Fox Trot" comic strip was a physics major in college.
posted by achmorrison at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2006

iconomy - in the UK, many of us don't have a clue who Ashton Kutcher is.
posted by handee at 6:02 AM on July 26, 2006

Response by poster: iconomy - the reason I didn't use Ashton Kutcher is that unfortunately he dropped out to take up a career in modelling. Shame, because as you say, it's a real WTF.
posted by alby at 11:13 AM on July 26, 2006