Venti Quattro
05-03-2012, 02:09 PM
No joke; Shaq becomes 'Dr. O'Neal' this weekend (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/05/shaquille-oneal-gets-doctorate-degree-humor-/1)
Shaquille O'Neal studied humor in order to earn the doctorate degree in education he'll receive this weekend, but his academic effort was no joke.
O'Neal's degree in organizational learning and leadership will be awarded by Barry University in Miami Shores. The department chair who guided O'Neal's studies, David M. Koop, tells the Miami Herald that Shaq "insisted he wanted to earn it, and he certainly did that. He was thoughtful, asked very good questions, and never missed an appointment."
Koop admitted to initially being skeptical about Shaq as a student, but O'Neal had a 3.81 grade-point average while completing 16 courses and additional self-directed research.
The oft-funny O'Neal put his Big Aristotle persona to work while interviewing executives about their use of humor in business, and his major paper was titled "The Duality of Humor and Seriousness in Leadership Styles."
O'Neal did most of his work via satellite, but Kopp told the Herald that when he did attend class it was "happily disruptive."
Shaq gave the Herald these assessments of what mix of humor and seriousness some key NBA figures employ: Heat owner Micky Arison is 90% percent humor, 10% serious; Heat president Pat Riley is 80% serious, 20% humor; LeBron James is 80% humor, 20% serious.
And, on a semi-serious, semi-humorous note, Shaq told the Herald that from now on he'd like to be called "Dr. O'Neal."
Shaquille O'Neal studied humor in order to earn the doctorate degree in education he'll receive this weekend, but his academic effort was no joke.
O'Neal's degree in organizational learning and leadership will be awarded by Barry University in Miami Shores. The department chair who guided O'Neal's studies, David M. Koop, tells the Miami Herald that Shaq "insisted he wanted to earn it, and he certainly did that. He was thoughtful, asked very good questions, and never missed an appointment."
Koop admitted to initially being skeptical about Shaq as a student, but O'Neal had a 3.81 grade-point average while completing 16 courses and additional self-directed research.
The oft-funny O'Neal put his Big Aristotle persona to work while interviewing executives about their use of humor in business, and his major paper was titled "The Duality of Humor and Seriousness in Leadership Styles."
O'Neal did most of his work via satellite, but Kopp told the Herald that when he did attend class it was "happily disruptive."
Shaq gave the Herald these assessments of what mix of humor and seriousness some key NBA figures employ: Heat owner Micky Arison is 90% percent humor, 10% serious; Heat president Pat Riley is 80% serious, 20% humor; LeBron James is 80% humor, 20% serious.
And, on a semi-serious, semi-humorous note, Shaq told the Herald that from now on he'd like to be called "Dr. O'Neal."