Does Bill Nye have a real PhD? Education explored as Internet reacts to Presidential Medal of Freedom award

Bill Nye, who is also known as the Science Guy, was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor by President Joe Biden. However, it has sparked an online debate as some netizens are arguing if he is qualified to be called a scientist. Nye does not hold a real PhD but six honorary ones.

For the unversed, the medal is awarded to those who have made exemplary contributions to the values, prosperity of security of the country, world peace, or of significant societies.

Following the award ceremony, the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) was filled with users criticizing the Science Guy. Some also argued that he works for a party and does not have a degree in science.

"Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' doesn’t have a degree in science, rather mechanical engineering. But that hasn’t stopped him from lying about science for decades to push his woke climate change hoax. Biden gives awards to nothing but criminals and frauds."

Others also said that Nye is not even a scientist.

"Bill Nye is not a scientist. He's a media personality who works for a single political party. This is a joke. It's all a joke."

The criticism has sparked interest in Nye's qualifications as many are wondering whether he has a real PhD. Nye holds not one but six doctorate degrees but all of them are honorary.

According to Science Friday, six different universities and institutes have honored Nye with doctorate degrees. They include Willamette University, Lehigh University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Quinnipiac University, Goucher College, and John Hopkins.

What are Bill Nye's qualifications?

Bill Nye was born in 1955 to a codebreaker mother and a World War II veteran father. He graduated from high school in 1973 and went to Cornell University to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering under Carl Sagan.

Before entering the world of entertainment, he worked for Boeing by taking part in their films. He also developed a resonance suppressor that was used in the Boeing 747 airplane. While he also applied to become an astronaut at NASA, his application was not accepted.

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He soon left his job at Boeing to focus on his career in entertainment. He appeared on TV shows to demonstrate science experiments and activities to children. From 1993 to 1998, his show Bill Nye the Science Guy also aired on TV and received several accolades.

Since then, he has been teaching and advocating about scientific research. He has also helped in the development of a small sundial which was a part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. Nye also works as a visiting professor at Cornell University.

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