Man earns doctorate in physics at age 89: “Follow your dreams”

According to the Austrian Manfred Steiner, you are never too old to learn. For example, at the age of 89, the man obtained his doctorate in physics from Brown University in the US state of Rhode Island. “Ever since I was a child, it was a dream of mine, I always wanted to be a physicist,” said Steiner.

Manfred Steiner, 89, fled as a young man with his family from the Austrian capital Vienna during World War II and ended up in the United States.

“When I graduated from high school, I knew that physics was my passion. But after the war, my mother and uncle advised me to study medicine because it was a better choice in those turbulent times,” says Steiner.

In the end, he followed his family’s advice. In 1955 he graduated from the University of Vienna and had a medical doctorate in his pocket.

Afterward, Steiner went on to study hematology in Washington. He completed his academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1967.

Love for physics

Steiner’s love for physics, however, remained strong. “When I retired as a doctor, I was almost 70,” said the man. That age did not stop him from studying physics after all these years.

Despite his many successes, Steiner attaches the greatest importance to the doctorate he has now obtained. “I cherish this diploma the most because I have strived for it all my life,” it sounds. Steiner says he is “in seventh heaven” because of his performance and also encourages others.

“I think young people should follow their dreams. If they don’t, they will always regret it,” concludes the 89-year-old physicist.