5 Celebrities With Surprising Doctorate Degrees

Brian May: Ph.D. in Astrophysics

Before playing guitar in the legendary rock band Queen, Brian May had his sights set on a career in astrophysics. May was an accomplished student from a young age, studying advanced physics, mathematics, and applied mathematics at Hampton Grammar School in London. He also received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Imperial College London in 1968 — the same year he and Freddy Mercury cofounded the band Smile, the predecessor to Queen.

From 1970 to 1974, May pursued a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Imperial College London. But his budding rock ’n’ roll career was taking off at the same time. The band released their first two albums in 1973 and 1974 to such success that May decided to put his academic career on hold.

The rock star suspended his studies for more than three decades, before re-registering for a Ph.D. in 2006. The following year, he submitted a thesis titled, “A survey of radial velocities in the zodiacal dust cloud,” after which he was awarded his advanced degree at long last. 

May attended graduation in 2008 and now works with both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to design stereoscopes of images taken during celestial missions. May has also used his own publishing house, the London Stereoscopic Company, to publish 3D books about astronomy.

Shaquille O’Neal: Doctor of Education

In addition to being a Hall of Fame basketball player, movie star, professional wrestler, and former police officer, Shaq is also a Doctor of Education. The Lakers legend earned his EdD from Miami’s Barry University; in a statement released by the school, O’Neal said his pursuit of the degree was to honor his mother, “who always stressed the importance of education.”

The Big Aristotle, as he’s affectionately known, spent four and a half years juggling his studies while playing in the NBA. He achieved an admirable 3.81 GPA, virtually attending classes between games. 

Shaq retired from the NBA in 2011 and graduated with his doctorate degree the following year. This was Dr. Shaq’s third college-level degree, having also earned a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies from Louisiana State University in 2000 and an MBA from the University of Phoenix in 2005.

Mayim Bialik: Ph.D. in Neuroscience

Actress Mayim Bialik shot to stardom portraying the title character on the sitcom Blossom in the early 1990s before portraying neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory in the 2010s. The latter character wasn’t far removed from Bialik’s real-life persona, as she herself has earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

Bialik shifted her focus away from acting and toward academics in the early 2000s. She earned a bachelor’s in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000 and soon returned to UCLA to pursue a doctorate in that same field. 

The actress achieved her Ph.D. in 2007, with a focus on the effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome. In addition to her resurrected entertainment career, Bialik is now a vocal advocate encouraging young girls to pursue careers in STEM. Bialik also put her profound intelligence to work while co-hosting TV’s Jeopardy! from 2021 to 2023.

Peter Weller: Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History

You may know him best as RoboCop, or perhaps as the Academy Award-nominated director of the 1993 short film Partners, but Peter Weller is also an expert in Italian art. 

Weller’s interest in art began to percolate in the 1970s as he hobnobbed with artists while living in New York City. But it wasn’t until seeing Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” at the Museum of Modern Art that Weller had a revelation. He later told Artnet that he finally “started to see the connective tissue of visual art.” 

Weller was later drawn to artists such as the Italian Renaissance painter and architect Giotto, and began his focus on that era. With decades of acting behind him — he starred in RoboCop in 1987 — Weller enrolled at Syracuse University in 2004 and completed a master’s degree focused on Roman and Renaissance art before pursuing a Ph.D. in the field. 

Weller wrote and defended a dissertation in 2013 about humanist artist Leon Battista Alberti and earned his doctorate the following year. He continues to be involved in art education — in 2023 he established UCLA’s Weller Family Graduate Art History Fund, which helps fund travel and research for graduate art students.

George Miller: Doctor of Medicine

Director George Miller is one of the few people who can say they’ve achieved both an Oscar and a doctorate in medicine. A film career wasn’t always the primary aim for this visionary behind the Mad Max franchise; he originally studied medicine at the University of New South Wales. 

Miller graduated from medical school in 1971 and went on to complete a residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
While working as an emergency room doctor in the 1970s, Miller was deeply affected by the carnage caused by car accidents, inspiring  him to imagine the dystopian universe of Mad Max. Miller released the first Mad Max movie in 1979, which proved to be a huge success and saw him transition out of the medical industry to pursue filmmaking full time.