Bill Gates to Finally Receive His Harvard Degree

coondoggie writes "It's not like he needs it to beef up his résumé, but the world's richest college dropout finally is getting his degree. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, will speak at Harvard University's commencement ceremony in June and, like all commencement speakers, will receive an honorary degree from the institution. It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in $44 billion in revenue last year, cares. But the programming whiz who once dropped out of Harvard will likely feel some sense of satisfaction."

Rich man's GED

[Aqua OS X (458522)]

I tend to view the bachelors degree as the high school diploma of the 21st century...
so I guess that makes the honorary degree something akin to a rich man's GED.

Re:

[Seumas (6865)]

As a drop-out-done-good myself (probably doing better than anyone I ever went to school with as well as the teachers and administrators), I would probably react to an honorary degree with a big fuck you. Like someone who stuck it out on their own and made something great for themselves in the world inevitably need some stamp of approval from a bunch of nose-in-the-air academic snoots?

Re:Rich man's GED

[neonmonk (467567)]

Stamp of approval?

It's an honorary degree, it's more like saying "we recognise you as being prominent in this field and here's the proof."

Not: "omglolwtf u didnt get a degree heres one now ur one of us!!1 lol"

Re:Rich man's GED

[Bastard of Subhumani (827601)]

Which field? I didn't know there was a subject called "monopology".

Re:Rich man's GED

[rikkards (98006)]

Stamp of approval?

It's an honorary degree, it's more like saying "we recognise you as being prominent in this field and here's the proof."

Not: "omglolwtf u didnt get a degree heres one now ur one of us!!1 lol"

Actually honorary degrees are more of a "we need someone to speak at our graduation and we will give you one as payment". Nothing more, nothing less. Kind of cheapens what the real graduates are getting IMHO.

Re:Rich man's GED

[smchris (464899)]

It's an honorary degree, it's more like saying "we recognise you as being prominent in this field and here's the proof."

Yup. He better not try to pass it off as a real degree on a job applicaton or he'll be in trouble.

Re:

[Raffaello (230287)]

Programming "whiz" [sic] is right - like cheese whiz. It was Paul Allen who was the wizard programmer, not Gates, who was always the businessman. Of course they wanted the colloquial abbreviation "wiz."

Re:Rich man's GED

[Cylix (55374)]

Yeah he started this little company a while ago.

Not really sure what happened with it.

Apparently, it's a big fuss in some circles... go figure.

Re:Rich man's GED

[eln (21727)]

Business is an academic field.

Re:

[Aqua OS X (458522)]

Making more money then university faculty or administrative staff isn't very hard to do. You get into that line of work because you're making and impact and or getting solid benefits, not because you plan on owning a winter home in Aspen.

And as for the "stamp of approval..." ... well, if you're attending a university for a stamp of approval you are, at the very least, not utilizing that resource properly.

Re:Rich man's GED

[StarvingSE (875139)]

Why does there seem to be such a big hatred for college degrees here on slashdot? I'm not trying to flamebait or anything, but it seems that every time there is a story about college (especially computer science programs), there's always a bunch of people who chime in on how a degree is useless.

It's not useless. Most companies require it for you to be able to work for them. A college degree (earned, not necessarily honorary) is valuable in that it shows that you can dedicate yourself to something and accomplish it. Also, for most people it's the first time they are on their own to figure out their own lives. At least for me, the life experiences during college are more valuable than the actual education. The college experience can be invaluable for discovering yourself and finding out how you want to live the rest of your life.

Re:Rich man's GED

[Sobrique (543255)]

Easy answer? Sour Grapes.

More indepth answer? If you assume a degree is synonymous with 'being qualified' you are incorrect. There are a large number of graduates who have yet to learn the 'tough lesson' that their degree doesn't actually carry much weight. So the Slashdot community is helpfully trying to get them focussed on the fact that a degree, or lack thereof, isn't a binary state factor. It's an enabler, and it's useful, but then... so is having spent 3 years 'in the industry' whilst everyone else was off getting their degree.

Industry experience harder to substantiate

[Serpentegena (991730)]

The other day my bf B. was telling me about a low-level tech candidate he had interviewed for some support work in his department. The guy had a great-looking resume that consisted mainly of "in-the-industry" experience. He "implemented" this, "organized" that...B. asked him about 20 questions in all. Mix-n-match. From very basic, to very complex issues, and no theoretical, textbook stuff. You had to be there to fix it. It was appropriate, given that this dude ws claiming most of his qualifications from fie

Re:Rich man's GED

[nharmon (97591)]

It isn't that there is a hatred for college degrees, or even an attitude that they are completely useless. I think the attitude is that college degrees have unnecessarily become a "basic education" credential where the absence of carries with it a certain stigma. And I can certainly understand why people would be upset about that.

Certainly college degrees aren't useless, but in the same respect they aren't completely necessary. I have a fairly well paying job without a bachelor's degree. However that being said, I am a part-time student pursuing a bachelor's degree, so obviously I do not view it as useless.

Re:

[merlin262 (677269)]

I think it's just part of the slashdot demographic.

Let me illustrate an average slashdot poster. I met a friend of a friend. The conversation went like this.

"So, where do you work?"

"I'm actually not right now"

"Oh, so what school are you going to?"

"I'm not going to college, the school messed me up"

"Oh, ok"

This person lives w/ their parents, and claims to enjoy "intelligent conversation". When you consider the number of self-styled experts that know everything on a subject, I'd say you have a large number

Re:

[rantingkitten (938138)]

That employers require a degree of people is not evidence that a degree is useful. HR departments are especially notorious for wanting to see degrees for jobs that don't require them, and in any case, the fact that "a degree" is often all that's needed is good evidence that it's useless. "You have a four year degree? Great, welcome aboard!" Of course, it's a degree in, like, anthropology or something, and you're trying to get jobs in the IT sector, but nobody cares, as long as you have a piece of paper

Already has several others

[Cocoshimmy (933014)]

Bill Gates has already received honorary degrees from several other institutions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates#Awards_and _recognition [wikipedia.org]

Yawn!!!

Re:Already has several others

[Dogtanian (588974)]

it's discouraging that such a top figure in computing really never had anything inspirational to say - at least pertaining the field.

Gates' major achievements are as a businessman, not as a computer scientist. Not saying that he's stupid in that area; quite the opposite (e.g. given the speed he apparently designed MS BASIC with, he clearly has skill). However, he didn't actually invent BASIC (as a language) or even write MS-DOS originally. On the other hand, who can deny that he's a very skilled businessman?

Re:Already has several others

[xtracto (837672)]

quite the opposite (e.g. given the speed he apparently designed MS BASIC with, he clearly has skill). However, he didn't actually invent BASIC (as a language) or even write MS-DOS originally

But, how /many/ people do you know that have "invented" or wrote original software?, I know I wont be very popular saying this over here but *even* Linus Trovalds took Minix as the basis for Linux, and he didnt *wrote* all of the Linux kernel you know. Technical people should not only be judged by the number of lines they write but by the *overall* influence they have to their field.

Bill Gates has had a really HUGE influence to the field (some good, some bad, but in my opinion, more good than bad). I would think that he deserves more like a Master degree... maybe *even* a PhD (although maybe he is not familiar with research methodologies).

I know here in slashdot more than 50% of people do not like him but I think overall, after he dies he will be nicely remembered as the guy who introduced computers to the masses.

Re:

[fsmunoz (267297)]

Indeed, the same happened here in Portugal. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k was what introduced computing to the masses, even to lower middle class people. It was relatively cheap, and had lots of games. Many people started programming on them (I did... "10 REM MY FIRST PROGRAM"). About 60% of the people that I know still remember the "(c) 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd" greeting. The Timex clones were also popular - I hear that especiall in Poland and Portugal, but I can only vouch for the latter. I remember buyi

huh?

[User 956 (568564)]

It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in $44 billion in revenue last year, cares.

Well, he certainly must care, as he's obviously not doing it for the money.

An honorary degree

[bunbuntheminilop (935594)]

doesn't count! He'll never be able to get a CS job with that!

Re:An honorary degree

[Dogtanian (588974)]

He'll never be able to get a CS job with that!

No, but he's one of the few people who might conceivably be able to meet such job requirements as "Window Vista (5 years experience)"...

Re:

[Hognoxious (631665)]

I've seen them too. At first I thought they might be a way for recruiters & HR droids to build a blacklist of known bullshit artists. Then I told myself there's no way they'd be that smart.

Not a doctorate?

[Timesprout (579035)]

I though that was the usual honourary gift to the successful.

With those credentials

[joeflies (529536)]

now maybe he could get past the resume screeners and get a job at Google? It's good to see him do something with his life now.

Honorary licenses

[owlman17 (871857)]

In other news, Harvard University has just been granted 10,000 honorary Vista licenses and 10,000 Office 2k7 licenses...

degree is done, man

[pchan- (118053)]

Finally his parents will get off his back to go back to school and do something with his life!

Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[gavink42 (1000674)]

Sure, going to college for 4 (or more) years can teach a person some good information. But the skills learned from life experience are usually much more important!

I have no degree but take college courses (adult continuing education) that interest me. At some point in most of them, the prof will usually add a remark like: "...but of course we know that's not how it works in the real world."

I'm not saying that they're teaching the wrong things in college, just that the average 18 year old will be learning mostly best-case theory. Most of the actual skills are learned during the early years in the workplace.

Seems like it would be a better process to work in your desired field for a few years, then go for the degree. Or, at least participate heavily in an apprentice program. But I do realize that some career fields are not compatible with this paragraph.

Re:Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[drsquare (530038)]

Today, family and friends ask me to not mention any of this to their kids finishing high school/starting college.

That's because nearly all dropouts end up working deadend menial jobs their entire lives.

It's not the dot-com era anymore, companies aren't going to hire 17 year old dropouts as sysadmins. Your case was a complete one off, you may as well advise people to buy lottery tickets for a living.

Re:Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[tomstdenis (446163)]

What skills are involved in admining boxes?

Things I learned in college

1. algebra
2. calculus
3. data structures
4. algorithms [sorting, searching, etc]
5. compiler theory
6. numerical analysis
7. and a host of practical courses, etc.

And what do I do for a living? Software developer in the field of cryptography. So I need the math, algorithms, etc, etc. Yeah, granted I too taught myself a lot of my skills [like crypto], but to say college was a total waste because I had to sit through a "intro to C" class is ignorant.

Maybe if you had a job that required talent you'd be talking differently. I'm sorry, but setting up servers, changing network settings, etc, isn't exactly a skilled labour. I mean it's a job, but don't pretend you're some tech god because you can make Apache start and host a page.

Sorry for knocking you off your high horse, but you're advice is ignorant and misleading.

Tom

Yep, he earned it, I'd say.

[Rob Bos (3399)]

Love or hate the guy, he's certainly earned degree equivalency. Business Administration, most likely; they said in the article that Harvard doesn't announce which subject in advance.

If it's computing science, then I'd probably have a few words to say.

Man thats going to be dull...

[Upaut (670171)]

At Bently College, when we gave Jerry from "Ben and Jerry's" ice cream and honorary degree, he brought with him a truck of free ice cream. So much so that every student and proffessor willing had a freezer stuffed with the stuff afterwards... What will Gates do, give all the students copies of WIndows Vista? Thats a bit like someone dousing the students with STD infected blood...

Now who should get an honorary Harvard degree is Hugh Heffneir, for his buisness empire... Maybe he would pass the bunnies around...

Re:

[TooMuchToDo (882796)]

How choice that you mention dousing students with STD infected blood and passing the playboy bunnies around in the same post. Me thinks you haven't thought your cunning plan all the way through =)

What it also says

[Swift2001 (874553)]

"We notice you've made a lot of money and are therefore wise. We also notice you're not getting any younger, and you're giving away money. If you see anything you'd like to endow, please be in touch."

Bill should get a real degree in philospophy...

[cute-boy (62961)]

Then maybe he'd have a better understanding of Ethics.

-R

Thanks Bill for the nice building

[Framboise (521772)]

From this page everything becomes limpid: http://www.siel.harvard.edu/2003/about/tour/classr ooms/maxw.jsp [harvard.edu] : "The Maxwell Dworkin building was built with funds donated by Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates III and Microsoft President Steven A. Ballmer, both members of the Class of 1977, in memory of their mothers, Mary Maxwell Gates and Beatrice Dworkin Ballmer. Maxwell Dworkin building opened in 1999 and, with its extensive office and laboratory space, will allow Harvard to double the size of its computer science faculty over the next several years."

This is gonna ruin his SPAM joke.

[wirelessbuzzers (552513)]

Bill gates, in a speech about fighting SPAM:

An important thing about SPAM, if you're trying to filter it out, is that it's usually poorly targeted.
(Slide of Bill Gates' inbox comes up, showing "Ref1nance your morgage!").

However, sometimes they hit just by random chance.
(Next message in inbox is about "U.N.I.V.E.R.S.I.T.Y.D.I.P.L.O.M.A.S").

Honorary Degrees Outside Commencement

[RWarrior(fobw) (448405)]

Now if you really want to be somebody, get an honorary degree from Harvard outside of normal commencement exercises. You join this list of luminaries (plus a few others nobody born after World War II has heard of):

• George Washington
• Marquis de Lafyette
• James Monroe
• Andrew Jackson
• Winston Churchill
• Nelson Mandela

That's real company.

Woz on the other hand..

[clickclickdrone (964164)]

Went back to collage under a pseudonym and got his own damned degree.

talk about PR stunt

[DaMattster (977781)]

These honorary degrees are nothing but another PR stunt. Hey, maybe this is troll material, but having Bill Gates as a potential wealthy donor on your side never hurt anyone. Give him the honorary degree, make him feel very good, and donations, donations, donations. Had Bill Gates not risen to become the chairman of Microsoft, Harvard would have paid him no more mind than a fly on the wall. As other slashdotters have pointed out, Steve Wozniak went back to college and earned his degree.

Also in the same story...

[BillGatesLoveChild (1046184)]

"At the same ceremony Harvard honored Steve Balmer's Contributions by giving him a Chair."

not as bad as giving Shrub an honorary degree, but

[quixote9 (999874)]

I am not happy. That's my alma mater. (Well, not so alma, and not so mater either, if you get right down to it.) I'm glad that's not my graduation year. Imagine having to sit there and listen to this guy gas on about the value of hard work while he's kneecapping as many companies as he can get at, pushing for as many cheap H1-B workers as it'll take to put those nice little Harvard grads right out of a job, and generally just being Bill Gates.

(I'll admit the Gates Foundation does good philanthropic work, but for that I credit his wife. I never heard of him doing that stuff before he got married.)

Programming whiz?

[seandiggity (992657)]

"Programming whiz"? I've heard others say this also, but what exactly was Billy boy so good at (besides sending nasty letters [wikipedia.org] to early innovators)?
 
I'm under the impression that he made his mark by announcing vaporware and then coming up with something quick (primarily using someone else's work), before showing it off to potential buyers (e.g. QDOS [wikipedia.org], Altair BASIC interpreter [wikipedia.org]).

Tough time to be a recent grad

[jjohn (2991)]

I hope Mr. Gates understands that life is difficult for recent graduates. His first job post-degree will likely be an entry-level position without glamour or sufficient compensation. The dog-eat-dog world of corporate America isn't for everyone. Perhaps he won't get too put off by the whole thing.

Re:"programming whiz"?

[WaZiX (766733)]

Bullshit, he wrote Clippy!

Re:"programming whiz"?

[westlake (615356)]

Hardly. He was just the whiny wannabe PHB who wanted to get paid. Allen did all the work originally; the rest was ripped from Gary Kildall

Gates began programming at age thirteen, at fourteen, he was clearing $20,000 a year at this game. In 1973 he co-authored and published a paper a paper on algorithms with computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou. Bill Gates [wikipedia.org] That is moving damn fast and damn far for a "whiny wannabee."

Microscoft was founded in 1975. In Japan in 1978.

Microsoft was dominant in programming languages for the microcomputer in 1980 and not an unknown quantity to IBM. Gates promised to deliver a serviceable, low-cost, OS in time for the scheduled launch of the PC. Nothing more. But these were the words IBM needed to hear---and they weren't coming from Kildall.

You snooze, you lose.

Re:

[delirium of disorder (701392)]

Half of the people haven't even been charged with a crime in a competent court let alone convicted.

It's nice that you assume that the Administration is innocent until proven guilty. I just wish they would return the favor and practice due process with their victims instead of engaging in rendition, torture, indefinite detention, disappearances, and etc all before any legal trial. I'd rather live in a republic than a junta.

Re:

[Fnkmaster (89084)]

That's definitely not true [harvard.edu]. Not sure where this sort of thing comes from.

Re:

[Hognoxious (631665)]

Honorary degree's for people worthless in their field.

Do you have one in punctuation?