A very happy announcement!

[leftieNanner]

We just returned from Cambridge, MA where we witnessed our daughter give her PhD Thesis Defense in Physical Chemistry at MIT.

Lots of happy smiles and tears from Mom (but of course I cried!)

And yes, we DO have a doctor in the house!

Side note: she is like her mother - very progressive and politically active!

[pandr32]

1. That is wonderful

Congratulations!

[CTyankee]

2. Congrats to you and the new PhD!

I'm sure she will have a distinguished career!

[leftieNanner]

7. One of the things I love about her ambition

is that she wants to teach at a college level (not university) so that she can mentor students as she was mentored.

She could make a lot more money in industry or at a bigger school in the future, but that's not why she is doing this.

She's off to do a post-doc job for a few years before she finds the college position.

We are immensely proud of her. She's bright, certainly, but she works her butt off!

[CTyankee]

11. With that sort of ambition, I am sure she will be happy in life.

She will feel fulfilled and take joy in what she does. That is the most important thing!

[murielm99]

20. People seldom realize that the bright ones

do work their butts off. Many people think it just comes to them.

Congrats. I love it when parents brag about their great kids.

[leftieNanner]

21. Oh Muriel!

Just don't get me started about my other fabulous daughter!

[murielm99]

22. Just remember that you started this!

I also have two fabulous daughters and a fabulous son.

[leftieNanner]

24. Excellent!

Our young people may save us from ourselves some day.

Good job Mom!

[murielm99]

58. I won't hijack.

This is your thread and your turn to brag.

[asiliveandbreathe]

3. Wonderful - no small fete - congrats to all!

[smirkymonkey]

4. Congratulations!

You must be very proud!

[spanone]

5. K&R...

[MelissaB]

6. Congrats to you all!

This is a HUGE accomplishment.

[Hekate]

8. How wonderful for you all, and how nice you could be there to share the moment!

Finishing a doctoral dissertation and defending it are damn hard work. I hope she takes a moment to just enjoy the achievement.

[Botany]

9. wow! A PhD in P-Chem from MIT?

Congrats to the whole family.

[Mrs. Overall]

10. Here's to more women in the field of chemistry! Congratulations!!

[NewJeffCT]

12. Congratulations

to you and especially your daughter.

[renate]

13. OMG!!!

A PhD?

In physical chemistry?

From M I freaking T??????



Color me impressed!!! Congratulations and well done to her!!!

[leftieNanner]

18. LOL

I refer to it as M I freaking T too!

Her work is far above my pay grade - but I actually understood a great deal of her presentation. She will be a good teacher.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

14. Congratulations! You must be very proud of your daughter.

Both attending MIT and getting her PhD are significant accomplishments.

[dlk]

15. Fantastic! Thanks for Sharing!

[aggiesal]

16. I thought you were notifying us that ...

Dolt45 quit, resigned, kicked out, ...

But, this is fantastic news.
Congrats!

[leftieNanner]

23. Well that would certainly be a wonderful announcement!

I'm reading prognosticators recently who expect him to drop out of the 2020 race. Pence would pardon him and Barr would have his back. Maybe not so far fetched at this point. Although that would still leave him open for state charges in New York.

Somebody needs to check for a piece of paper on his desk with a list of countries without extradition treaties!

[NNadir]

17. Huge shout out from one Chemist to another.

It's great to add another to our under appreciated science.

My boy is thinking Grad school at MIT, although he's a few years off. He's Mat Sci, and I'd love it if he got to work with their Nuke people.

[leftieNanner]

19. Good for him!

She felt that MIT was a good place to go for grad school, but undergrad would not have been right for her.

So many people in different chemical fields with whom I have discussed this have said "Oh, P-Chem! I hated P-Chem."

Not her!

[NNadir]

27. There was only one Ivy I thought...

...he should apply to for undergrad but he declined to do so.

The Ivys, I think are great for Grad school, since the faculty's focus is research, not teaching, usually.

He's at a very good research school and is getting a fabulous education, but he's among people who are psychologically similar.

Happily for him, his advisor has taken him under wing, and he's having a tremendous experience being guided into research.

There is so much angst involved in undergraduate Ivy admissions, that it can be a killing field.

In my life I've seen a number of young kids get chewed up by the process, exceptionally bright kids too.

Your daughter did it right and you have every right to be extremely proud.

[leftieNanner]

30. For him to have a supportive adviser is huge

My daughter went to Wellesley and because it's not a university, there are no graduate students. This meant that the research assistants are all undergrads. She had so many outstanding opportunities to do work that is traditionally done by grad students. When she graduated, she had the equivalent resume of someone with a Masters degree.

I hope your son is having opportunities for summer internships. That was very important.

Agree about the Ivys. They are super intense and not necessarily the right environment for every student.

Best of luck to your son.

[NNadir]

32. Yes. He interned this summer at ORNL.

They just set him free to accomplish a task.

He learned to love research, and learned a lot about serendipity as well.

[redstatebluegirl]

25. Congratulations!!!

[Karadeniz]

26. Looks like you have a lot to be proud of!.congratulations one and all!❤

[msdogi]

28. when our kids do great things

there is nothing better. Big Congratulations!

[Granny M]

29. Congratulations! nt

[cilla4progress]

31. Wow - fabulous

and impressive! Physical Chemistry?! Woooo!

(can only guess what it is! )

Good job, mom and all!!!!!

[leftieNanner]

33. Physical Chemistry

is kind of a combination of Physics and Chemistry. At least that's the way I understand it.

And thanks.

[cilla4progress]

34. Of course!

[calimary]

35. Yay!!! Good news is SOOOOOO welcome right now!

Congratulations to all of you!

[blueinredohio]

36. Congratulations to all!

[Raven]

37. WOW! Good for her and good for you. That is no small feat!

[LittleGirl]

38. Yay!

A female that compliments us all! So happy for you all.

[leftieNanner]

42. I was misbehaving at one point

And she told me "The problem with raising thoroughly self confident daughters is that it's impossible for you to embarrass us."

Bazinga!

[LittleGirl]

44. Hee hee.

She’s amazing! Yay!

[mahina]

39. Wow that us a staggeringly immense accomplishment.

Many congratulations!!

[leftieNanner]

40. Mahalo mahina!

nt

[Hulk]

41. Woot!! Congratulations to ALL!

Job well done. Happy for all of you! Make the world a better place...starting here at home.👍

[AJT]

43. You must be bursting with pride.

[Wiseman32218]

45. That is AWESOME!!!!

Great news and Congrats!!!!!

[CousinIT]

46. YAY science! YAY education! YAY progressive and politically active...

....THESE are the things that give me hope for the future.

WELL DONE!

[leftieNanner]

50. On top of her academic work

She was also chair of the graduate student external affairs board. Got to travel to DC to lobby Congress, in particular that provision in Paul Ryan's tax monstrosity that wanted to tax graduate tuition scholarships as income.

Angela Merkel has a PhD in P Chem. Hmmm. What do you think?

[CousinIT]

52. Oh damn. She's fabulous and in good company!

Tell her to run for POTUS - like, if she gets bored or something.

[PCIntern]

47. Outstanding!!!

A remarkable achievement! Congratulations to all!!!

[panader0]

48. Wonderful!

[Poiuyt]

49. I'm very impressed!

I took P-Chem in college, and I have no idea how I passed the course. It's traditionally one of the most difficult classes at any university, but to work towards a PhD and at MIT no less is amazing!

PS - I was an organic chemist, but that's just glorified cooking.

[leftieNanner]

51. Funny

She is not fond of organic. Different strokes!

[Poiuyt]

56. Here's a funny story:

When I was in physical chemistry, I had trouble with all the advanced calculous. The professor moved very fast, so I would furiously scribble down what he wrote on the board, and I'd try to figure it out in the evening. I was afraid to ask a question, because I didn't want to ask a stupid question.

One day, the smartest kid in the class raised his hand and said, "Dr. Mac, what the hell are you talking about?" Everybody in the class let out a big sigh of relief. Apparently, no one understood what he was talking about, but we were all afraid of slowing the rest of the class down. The only student who did understand was a physics major who was just talking the course for fun.

[leftieNanner]

60. Great story

I took organic chem at Cal from a Nobel Laureate who was a singular jerk. He was writing madly on the chalk board - the kind that are on a track and after you have filled one board, you push it up and keep writing. Someone in the class asked a question several boards back, and his answer was "if you were two weeks ahead in your assignments, as you should be, you would know the answer to that." Then he kept writing. He was one of those professors that is forced by the university to teach a lower division course when all he wants to do is further his research. I learned much more from my TA than I ever did from him.

[BumRushDaShow]

53. Congrats and

OMG P-chem!!!! (yes I had 2 semesters of it and that was more than enough - Schrödinger's equation )

[MontanaMama]

54. My oh my! What an accomplishment.

Congratulations to your daughter and to you. This is indeed a good day.

[malaise]

55. Wonderful

Oh Happy Day

[Mike 03]

57. Congratulations to you and your daughter.

And thank you for bringing a 'woke' person into the world!

[GeoWilliam750]

59. Excellent!

Congratulations!!!

[Sogo]

61. Congratulations, proud Momma!! nt

[Hortensis]

62. Big smiles for you and because of you. Congrats to you all.

[JudyM]

63. Wonderful achievement. More women scientists bring truth into the open.

Does she have a special interest within the field?

[leftieNanner]

64. Teaching

At the college level, not University. She wants to mentor students as she was mentored by her major professor.

Edit to add: Her research involves nano particles.

[JudyM]

65. Nano - so cool! She'll be teaching at the cutting edge.

Maybe teaching/inspiring folks who will find cures to diseases, since nano is such an expanding frontier in medicine.

So happy for both of you.

[GetRidOfThem]

66. Evidence of some great parenting!!! nt/t

[jimlup]

67. Woo Hoo! Congratulations!

More than a doctor - an expert in Physical Chemistry. We need more of them in the world.

[handmade34]

68. congratulations!

[PatrickforO]

69. Wow. Physical Chemistry at MIT.

That's a really, really proud thing! Congratulations to her for a wonderful accomplishment.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

70. Big time congrats

She's much better at it than I was. I had 4 semesters and only managed 1 "A".

[Talitha]

71. Congratulations !!!!

[Demovictory9]

72. a major achievement

[Roy Rolling]

73. Awesome!

My wife and I made a May trip to Cambridge for the same reason. Our MIT daughter is something special, as is yours. Congratulations.

[leftieNanner]

75. Excellent!

Congratulations to you as well! What field did your daughter study?

[Blue_playwright]

74. Wow congrats to you all!

Nt