At UCLA's 2012 doctoral hooding.
UCLA’s first doctoral class bears little resemblance to this year’s crop of new doctorates.
The class has transformed from 100 percent male in 1938 to a near 50-50 split in 2013. The average age has risen from 26 to 34 as more adults return to higher education. Students now come from all over the world, while the first class came exclusively from a farm in Michigan – because, unlike this year’s class of 783 students, UCLA’s first doctoral class had just one student in it.
Seventy-five years and 30,000 doctoral degrees later, this year’s oldest graduate, at 77, was only 2 years old when Kenneth Bailey earned UCLA’s first Ph.D., while this year’s youngest, at 25, sees 75 years as a long-established history. About 360 graduates will walk the stage today at the UCLA Graduate Division’s 75th doctoral hooding ceremony.
“UCLA’s doctoral programs are regularly ranked among the best in the country,” said Robin Garrell, the vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate Division. “The creative and scholarly achievements of today’s graduates are extraordinary. We’re proud to celebrate them and this milestone in UCLA’s history.”
Sylva Natalie Manoogian, the oldest female graduate, sees a lovely symmetry in this year’s anniversary – like UCLA’s Graduate Division, she, too, is celebrating her 75th year.
“I come from a long line of scholarly women,” said Manoogian, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe in 1959 and this year earns her Ph.D. in library and information sciences.
When UCLA issued its first doctoral degree in 1938, Manoogian was an infant, living with her Armenian parents in France shortly before the Nazi occupation. Her family immigrated to the United States after the war, and her father, a prolific author and Armenian activist, brought her books from the library to make sure she practiced her English, French and Armenian every day.
“You’re never too old to learn,” said Manoogian, who plans to use her specialization in libraries, archives and museums to help her curate her father’s papers. “The word ‘retirement’ is not in my vocabulary – not in any language.”
Since offering a lone history Ph.D in 1938, UCLA’s Graduate Division now offers five different types of doctorates – Ph.D, Ed.D, D.Ma., D.Ph., and D.Ev. – in 81 different majors. In 1942, UCLA awarded its first doctorate to a woman, and, not surprisingly, the number has climbed dramatically ever since, with nearly 350 women earning UCLA doctorates this year.
The youngest, 25-year-old Elinne Becket, is doing work that the university’s first doctoral graduate couldn’t have envisioned in 1938. The molecular biology Ph.D. works in a lab studying epigenetics, determining how inheritable genes misfire and cause some cells to turn cancerous.
“I always wanted to go to UCLA,” Becket said. “It was my dream ever since I was 10 years old and decided I wanted to go into science. All of UCLA’s divisions feel very established and prominent.”
This year’s class has already published research about stem cell functions, the mechanisms of microcircuits involved in learning and memory, and brain-mapping to determine genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer’s. They’ve done field work on little-studied non-Chinese languages in China and on self-built settlements located in the urban outskirts of Mongolia.
Fittingly, this year’s oldest graduate, 77-year-old Melvin Lebe, is receiving his Ph.D. in history, just as Bailey did in 1938. Unlike many of his classmates, Lebe lived through the era he specialized in – the late ’40s and early ’50s. Lebe earned his law degree in 1960 and practiced for 40 years before retiring and pursuing his love of history.
“I started taking classes for the fun of it,” he said. “I lived through the Truman years, but I was around 10 and 15 years old and wasn’t particularly political. It hasn’t given me any advantage because I have such smart and knowledgeable classmates.”
Watch the webcast of the 75th doctoral hooding ceremony at 3 p.m. today, and learn more about the graduates' academic regalia in the video below.
The class has transformed from 100 percent male in 1938 to a near 50-50 split in 2013. The average age has risen from 26 to 34 as more adults return to higher education. Students now come from all over the world, while the first class came exclusively from a farm in Michigan – because, unlike this year’s class of 783 students, UCLA’s first doctoral class had just one student in it.
Seventy-five years and 30,000 doctoral degrees later, this year’s oldest graduate, at 77, was only 2 years old when Kenneth Bailey earned UCLA’s first Ph.D., while this year’s youngest, at 25, sees 75 years as a long-established history. About 360 graduates will walk the stage today at the UCLA Graduate Division’s 75th doctoral hooding ceremony.
At UCLA's 2012 doctoral hooding, left to right: Graduate Division Vice Provost and Dean Robin Garrell, Graduate Division Associate Dean Carlos Grijalva and Life Sciences Dean Victoria Sork.
Sylva Natalie Manoogian, the oldest female graduate, sees a lovely symmetry in this year’s anniversary – like UCLA’s Graduate Division, she, too, is celebrating her 75th year.
“I come from a long line of scholarly women,” said Manoogian, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe in 1959 and this year earns her Ph.D. in library and information sciences.
When UCLA issued its first doctoral degree in 1938, Manoogian was an infant, living with her Armenian parents in France shortly before the Nazi occupation. Her family immigrated to the United States after the war, and her father, a prolific author and Armenian activist, brought her books from the library to make sure she practiced her English, French and Armenian every day.
“You’re never too old to learn,” said Manoogian, who plans to use her specialization in libraries, archives and museums to help her curate her father’s papers. “The word ‘retirement’ is not in my vocabulary – not in any language.”
Since offering a lone history Ph.D in 1938, UCLA’s Graduate Division now offers five different types of doctorates – Ph.D, Ed.D, D.Ma., D.Ph., and D.Ev. – in 81 different majors. In 1942, UCLA awarded its first doctorate to a woman, and, not surprisingly, the number has climbed dramatically ever since, with nearly 350 women earning UCLA doctorates this year. The youngest, 25-year-old Elinne Becket, is doing work that the university’s first doctoral graduate couldn’t have envisioned in 1938. The molecular biology Ph.D. works in a lab studying epigenetics, determining how inheritable genes misfire and cause some cells to turn cancerous.
“I always wanted to go to UCLA,” Becket said. “It was my dream ever since I was 10 years old and decided I wanted to go into science. All of UCLA’s divisions feel very established and prominent.”
This year’s class has already published research about stem cell functions, the mechanisms of microcircuits involved in learning and memory, and brain-mapping to determine genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer’s. They’ve done field work on little-studied non-Chinese languages in China and on self-built settlements located in the urban outskirts of Mongolia.
Fittingly, this year’s oldest graduate, 77-year-old Melvin Lebe, is receiving his Ph.D. in history, just as Bailey did in 1938. Unlike many of his classmates, Lebe lived through the era he specialized in – the late ’40s and early ’50s. Lebe earned his law degree in 1960 and practiced for 40 years before retiring and pursuing his love of history.
“I started taking classes for the fun of it,” he said. “I lived through the Truman years, but I was around 10 and 15 years old and wasn’t particularly political. It hasn’t given me any advantage because I have such smart and knowledgeable classmates.”
Watch the webcast of the 75th doctoral hooding ceremony at 3 p.m. today, and learn more about the graduates' academic regalia in the video below.
