Celebrities with Doctorates Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal completed his undergraduate degree in 2000, then he completed an MBA through the online University of Phoenix in 2005. Finally, he earned an Ed.D. in Human Resource Development at Barry University in 2012. Since retiring from the NBA, he has put his education to use in many endeavours in the business world.

Answer: Forensic linguistics

Robert Leonard sang bass for Sha-Na-Na for two years while he was completing his undergraduate degree. He left the band when he was offered a fellowship at Columbia University to study linguistics. He is a qualified expert witness in over ten US states where he helps to solve crime by examining the structure of written and spoken language that is used during the commission of the crimes.

Answer: Amy Farrah Fowler

Mayim Bialik played neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler on the show, but she too has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience that she received from UCLA in 2007. Besides her acting career, she has published a number of books and completed her doctoral dissertation about a certain area of the brain in people with Prader-Willi syndrome. Bialik was also granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Boston University in 2014.

Answer: She is the first openly lesbian host of a major prime-time news program in the United States.

Rachel Maddow received an International Rhodes Scholarship, then went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in politics from the University of Oxford. She started hosting "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC in 2008. Given her area of study for her doctorate, it should come as no surprise to learn that her show is focused on political happenings within the United States as seen from her liberal perspective.

Answer: Brian May

Brian May took more than 35 years to complete his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Imperial College in London. This wasn't because he flunked out. Rather, the band "Queen" became very popular halfway through his studies. So, he took a long hiatus and returned to school in 2006 at the age of 59 to complete his studies.

He is now not just the holder of a Ph.D. in astrophysics but also a visiting researcher at his alma mater.

Answer: Communications

While Robert Vaughn was acting in movies and television shows like "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", "The Magnificent Seven", and "The Young Philadelphians", he also managed to stay in school to earn a master's degree in communications from the Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences as well as a Ph.D. in communications from the University of Southern California.

In fact, Vaughn actually published his dissertation as a book called "Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting".

Answer: Peter Weller

Peter Weller is best-known for being both an actor and a director, with his most famous role being the original RoboCop in both "RoboCop" and "RoboCop 2". More than that, he is also an art historian with a Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History from UCLA.

This may be why he was asked host "Engineering an Empire", which is a History Channel TV show about the architectural accomplishments of great civilizations such as Egypt, Rome, and China.

Answer: The twins Philly and Patsi Parasi

Dan Grimaldi played the twins Philly and Patsi Parasi on HBO's "The Sopranos". However, he did not get into acting until after he had earned a Ph.D. in data processing from City University in New York City and held a job at a lab. After "The Sopranos" came to an end, Grimaldi continued to work as a professor at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, where he taught mathematics and computer science.

Answer: Screwball

"Iron" Mike Marshall earned his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from Michigan State University in 1978 while he was pitching for the Minnesota Twins. He studied the movement of the arm during pitching and developed a pitching method that he believes reduces or eliminates injuries to pitchers' arms.

He must have used the pitching mound as is his research lab because he broke a number of records during his career, and won the Cy Young Award in 1974.

Answer: She became the first female, first African-American, and youngest Provost in Stanford University's history.

Before she served as national security adviser and later secretary of state for President George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice spent several decades as a professor of political science. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Denver in 1981 for her dissertation on military policy in Czechoslovakia, she began teaching at Stanford University.

In 1993, she became the first woman and first African American to serve as a provost at Stanford University.