83-Year-Old Man Becomes The Oldest Black Person To Bag PhD Degree From US University

83-Year-Old Man Becomes The Oldest Black Person To Bag PhD Degree From US University

Meet Johnnie W. Jones, an 83-year-old retired military officer who just earned a PhD degree in Human Ecology from the Louisiana State University (LSU) which makes him the oldest black person to receive an LSU degree.

Johnnie Jones was 18 years when he joined the US Marine Corps and he had to drop out of school in sixth grade to support his family during the World War II and then he retired from the military in 1973.

He enrolled at the University of Hawaii for night classes to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. After completing his Bachelor’s degree, he then proceeded to Louisiana State University (LSU) to earn his Master’s degree in Social Work and began to pursue his PhD in Human Ecology.

He (Johnnie Jones) encountered a lot of challenges while pursuing his lifetime dream of earning a PhD degree. He had a serious medical condition at the age of 83 and this made him to lose some years of study.

After he recovered, he went on to pursue his PhD degree in Human Ecology and won’t be stopping there as he is looking to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Law.

In the words he told The Advocate, he said “Age is an artificial constraint. There is nothing magical about 65,75,95,105. Your behavior, your activities should be guided by your physical fitness and your mental fitness.

“We have been so socialized to believe that once you hit a certain age, I’ve done my thing, so I’m going to sit back and enjoy life. OK, if that’s your thing, that’s your thing. But to me, age doesn’t mean that much. It’s whether or not I have the ability to be doing the things I need to be doing.”

Credit: Black News

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