Ex-Pitt Student Gets Doctorate Degree 50 Years After Starting Studies

BRISTOL, UNITED KINGDOM — It's safe to say that Nick Axten has a "better late than never" attitude.

In 1970, Axten received a prestigious Fullbright scholarship and began pursuing a doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. But before he obtained it, he returned to his native United Kingdom and the years passed quickly.

More than a half-century later, Axten, 76, finally has received his doctoral degree in the philosophy from the University of Bristol last week. That occurred seven years after he began pursuing a master's degree there.

Why the 50-year delay after starting his pursuit of the degree when Richard Nixon was president and the Beatles shocked and dismayed their millions of fans by announcing they were disbanding?

“What I was trying to do in the early 70s was exceptionally difficult, "Axten said.

“Some problems are so great it takes the best part of a lifetime to get your head around them. They need a long hard think. This one has taken me 50 years."

According to Bristol officials, Axten's research built on the idea he was working on while at Pitt five decades ago. It's a new theory for understanding human behavior based on the values each person holds.

Axten said he believes his theory has the potential to change views of behavioral psychology.

Although he was decades older than his fellow philosophy graduates, Axten said they accepted him as one of their own.

"They are clever people full of ideas and I loved talking with them – especially at the pub in the afternoon," he said.