Top 10 Musicians with a Ph.D.

Top 10 Musicians with a Ph.D.

They proved they can rock the stage and the books.

These musicians are the pioneers in breaking the convention about geeks. They are cool, badass and smart and they have the diploma to prove it, three. They have their bachelor’s degree, their masters degree and their Ph.D.s

10. Brian Briggs


Singer and co-founder of the British folk-pop band Stornoway, Briggs has a PhD in zoology from the University of Oxford, writing his dissertation on duck behavior. Briggs found time to craft songs in his head while driving back and forth between Oxford and the various ponds where he did his research. Who knew what ornithologists did with their down time?



9. Brian Cox


While finishing up his PhD in physics at the University of Manchester, Cox was the keyboardist for the popular 90’s Irish pop rock/synthpop and dance band D:Ream. Now a professor at the University of Manchester, Cox made it into People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive issue in 2009. D:Reamy.



8. Milo Aukerman


Lead singer of the popular Los Angeles area punk band the Descendents, Aukerman earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Unashamed of his academic bent and general nerdiness, Aukerman and the Descendents titled their first full-length album Milo Goes to College(1982). Aukerman has yet to figure out how to juggle touring and science, but has contemplated building a research lab in the back of his tour bus.



7. Mira Aroyo


The Bulgarian born Aroyo is a keyboardist, singer and songwriter for the electropop/New Wave band Ladytron, and also a research scientist with a PhD in molecular
genetics from Oxford University. Besides speaking several languages, it is rumored Aroyo can play a mean accordion. Sorry guys, she’s married.



6. Dan Snaith


Snaith, who goes under the stage names Caribou and Manitoba, is a Canadian born electronica/psychedelic pop composer and musician with a PhD in mathematics from Imperial College London. Snaith’s father is a mathematics professor at the University of Sheffield and his sister is studying mathematics at the University of Bristol. Insert nerdy math joke here.



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