Bill Gates gets Harvard degree, not at all smug about it
By Paul Miller 
posted Jun 8th 2007 5:53PM
posted Jun 8th 2007 5:53PM
Little Bill is all growed up now, and has finally made his father proud. "I've been waiting for more than 30 years to say this: Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree," said Gates, who received a law degree on Thursday from Harvard after giving a commencement address to the students, the school he dropped out of to focus on Microsoft. "We recognize the most illustrious member of the Harvard College class of 1977 never to have graduated from Harvard," said Harvard University Provost Steven Hymen, who didn't seem too humbled to present the honorary degree. "It seems high time that his alma mater hand over the diploma." Bill Gates seemed more concerned with padding his resume, however, considering the fact that he's calling it quits at Microsoft soon. "I'll be changing my job next year, and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume." Oh, we're sure he'll get by alright.[Image via Seattle PI]
Congrats Bill!
"All right" is a word. "Already" is a word. But "alright" is not in any proper dictionary.
Yeah, I'm being picky but I just finished drilling my daughter for her spelling finals and she got "all right" wrong too.
-"But "alright" is not in any proper dictionary"
Uhm, I guess the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries aren't proper then.
http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=alright
http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50006486?query_type=word&queryword=alright&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=zMy5-klRjRz-7287&hilite=50006486
Sure, sure, it's somewhat informal, but still a recognized spelling. Engadget commentary isn't exactly the most formal of forums- rofl!!
Ahh, score one for the philistines then if 'alright' makes it into Webster, albeit as a contested entry. Pretty soon every misuse will become acceptable, what does a grammar stickler have to stickle about then? :-)
tundraboy you're ALLLLLRIGHT
Why get a degree now? Why not? It's not like Harvard made him pass any classes or anything, this is an HONORARY DOCTORATE that Harvard (and other universities) give to people who deserve a degree but didn't go to school.
Let me reiterate. Bill didn't lift a finger to get this degree. Well...unless you count giving a speech at Harvard.
... or you know, the thing they're honoring him for, which I guess is doing business and technology type stuff at Microsoft (which would make more sense awarding a Doctorate in Business with a focus on Software Technology, not Law).
He donated 10 million back about 6 years ago to build the Maxwell-Dworkin (named for his and Steve Balmers mothers) Building in the Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (now known as the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences). He also funds several professorships there, where 30 years ago he was a student.
Yesterday after the speech's he swung by for his 30th Reunion, had some pictures with his Wife in front of the 30th Reunion Banner, looked over a portion of original code posted on the wall from when he was a student there, said hi to people passing by and was very nice before being whisked away.
Seemed like a decent guy.
fooman
yeah uh, i didn't know "dropping out to make a living, and succeeding" counted as worthy of honoring nowadays.
silly me.
Bill didn't lift a finger to get this degree. Well...unless you count giving a speech at Harvard.
He gave the commencement address - he wasn't paid - folks who do this, at Harvard and many other universities, then get an honorary degree. It's not unusual.
Is that John Kerry???
I was wondering the same thing, lol.
See what happens when you're a college dropout.
Stay in school kids.
Yes, that's John Kerry.
The political jokes that can be made from that picture alone make the degree worthwhile...
grown up vs growed up ...
go back to grammar school paul miller
I think it was written like that as a joke to be cute.
Cool so a dropout can get a Harvard degree. Nice.
Now get out there and make something of yourself.
Ugh, what a joke. When did he start? When did he take the LSAT?
Who was he in classes with?
Did he write papers.
Talk about depreciation of law school.
Ugh, what a joke. When did he start? When did he take the LSAT?
Who was he in classes with?
Did he write papers.
Talk about depreciation of law school.
Did anyone else notice the name of the Harvard Provost?
So? United States is run by people named Bush and Dick.
There was a really neat article in the WSJ this morning about exactly this.
Finally he is employable.
This is bull.
Bill should be made to take all courses necessary to get the number of credits needed to get a degree.
Just like everybody else.
You people are idiots.
It is an honorary degree, not a real one.
Wow, it's like no one commenting knows what an honorary degree is.
Proud to be a beaver, but long past taking from a hymen, I must note that:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Honorary degrees are a routine part of graduation ceremonies at nearly every college in the land -- but not at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as "literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity."
Proud to be an MIT Beaver, but somewhat past taking anything from a hymen, I must note that:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Honorary degrees are a routine part of graduation ceremonies at nearly every college in the land -- but not at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as "literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity."
I know it is an "honorary" degree.
An honorary degree just makes no sense. It should either be a degree or it is not.
It's like getting pulled over and telling a police officer you have an "honorary" license to drive cause you dropped out before you were able to take the driver's exams at the DMV to obtain a true license but since you won the Indy 500, you should be free to go. (night-stick clubbing ensues)
They should call it an honorary "certificate" or just give him a card that says "You are Special"
It is simply an honorary degree, guys - he isn't bar certified, he's not going to be practicing law. This is a ceremonial degree honoring the achievements of an alumni who has made significant contributions to his alma mater.
What purpose does it serve to get so bent out of shape about it? I suppose envy can be a powerful motive force.
Finally, alright is a recognized spelling - and some grammarians have pushed for it to be the standard.
Now he has to pass the BAR exam. He better bone up on ethics. I think that's an area he is in need of severe help.
Let's see here, we have the founder of the biggest company that has more lawsuits for thier monopolistic business practices and Harvard gives him an honorary law degree?
What I want to know is what are the people at Harvard smoking?
I definitely won't hire Bill to head up anything having to do with the law.
What are Harvard smoking? They are smoking the "one of the world's richest men came here, and look what brilliance brushed off on him" school of Public Relations and virtually unlimited free publicity.
Let modern day high school students now bemoan the loss of one of their greatest example of why they don't need college... They can no longer claim that Bill Gates is a big success without a college degree.
Bill looks smashing in red.
Let's all just say it: We hate Bill Gates, and we have lost respect for Harvard for awarding him for his success with a company that employs monopolistic business tactics and screws over consumers with faulty operating systems that never live up to pre-launch promises.
Also, I'm fairly angry that Windows XP STILL protects the C:\Program Files\xerox directory. Seriously, it's pointless, it's empty, it makes people think that they have a virus (Windows XP IS the virus), and it will never have anything in it, yet it remains. Why can't a simple patch be released?
Now that we got that off our chests... who wants pie?
It is hard to believe that there are so many dumb people. He was a student at Harvard and left to go to Microsoft. He is probably a genius and smarter than others that did finish. Appears to be a very decent human being and I and many others admire him greatly. Good he got the honorary degree. I have seen hundreds less deserving receive the same honor.
@ Nintendud & David
Next time you get an honorary degree I'll make sure to visit Engadget and piss on you in the comments section.
As for monopolistic practices - that's capitalism for you. He's supposed to make profit, and the government is supposed to make sure he doesn't get too big. It is an adversarial system (aka, the US legal system); simply put, it wouldn't work any other way.
Microsoft is also largely responsible for making computers accessible to the every-day user. I don't see how they've failed to deliver a decent product, and if a protected directory is enough to induce that kind of ranting... perhaps we should cut back on the coffee, eh?
The Bill and Melinda Gates charities have done a lot of excellent things for this world. I daresay it takes considerable chutzpa, and a healthy level of derangement, to impugn his ethics. I've seen his interviews, I've read about the scholarships he has granted and the high school he has built. I've read about the work he's done to fight disease in developing countries. Maybe you guys should do a little more listening and a little more reading, and a lot less ranting.
Wow Harvard: Bill Gates, is a person who is practicing law!
His company successful in tackling with many law-suit. He has spent lots of time is defending himself and his company from law-suit, than in business. Thus people at Harvard has honored his talent in Law. What an genius they are!
for HEAVEN'S SAKE! its a ruddy HONORARY! its like a "thank you for funding us" card...sheesh....
Microsoft, under Bill Gates leadership, has been convicted of illegal business practices on three continents -- North America, Europe and Asia. Gates understanding of law would seem to be a little different from the people who wrote the laws.
OTOH, getting an honourary degree from Harvard is probably as close as they can get to a guarantee of financial gifts for the future.
IOW, Gates 'bought' the degree on the promise of funding. If you had a couple billion, you could get a degree from Harvard too -- and a couple of legal convictions wouldn't stand in your way either.
why LAW? a degree in computer science would be more sensible. Which idiot at Harvard came up with the idea of a law degree for bill gates...
Oh wait Harvard dean cares more about publicity than the appropriate degree to award to gates.
Because, that's what Gates was studying before he dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft.
Likewise, I am confused about this Law degree business.
But I guess they figure, hey if it's useless, let's just pick it from a hat!
Oh, I should have probably refreshed before commenting -_-
Thanks for clearing that up!
They told me he owns a MBL sound system
Did he get a degree in law just so he can pwn the linux scene? =( with the whole open source vs. microsoft crap
darn you gates, and your genious-ness!