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81-Year-Old Earns PhD from CU Boulder
At the age of 81,ÌýAlan Cohen (PhDHist’24) defended his dissertation and received his doctorate in history from CU Boulder. His work focused on the early years of commercial jet aviation and the Boeing 707. Before returning to school, Cohen spent many years working in government and running a Denver-based scrap metal business, Iron & Metals, Inc.
Talk about your career.Ìý
I received my undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, then went to graduate school for economics at Yale. Afterward, I got a job working with USAID in South America and spent nine years in Guatemala and Columbia before becoming an economic consultant on natural resource issues in Washington, D.C. Later, I took over as manager at the family scrap metal business in Denver. When I approached retirement myself, my son took it over from me.Ìý
What was your experience pursuing a PhD?Ìý
Economic history interested me, particularly in the American West. When living in Colorado, I met CU professors Ann Carlos and Patty Limerick and took their courses as an auditor and eventually decided to take the courses for credit. I figured I would learn more by actually doing the work. I took the first course about 15 years ago. It took me six years to do all of the coursework before I passed the oral exam. My wife and I moved to Palm Springs because she was sick, and that slowed my research down. When she died, I moved back to Denver to be near my two sons. After another long break during COVID, I finally finished my dissertation in about two years.Ìý
What was it like going to school in your 70s?Ìý
Going back to graduate school was a wonderful experience — learning from younger people and this generation of teachers. One of my biggest takeaways has been political: I think of myself as progressive, but I’m actually a lot more conservative than some of the younger generation.Ìý
Will you take any more classes?Ìý
I think I will start another research project. I’m fascinated by Singapore and its modern history, especially how it managed to break away from colonialism successfully.Ìý
What else should we know about you?Ìý
I started out as a young person learning about the American Civil War, and my interest grew out of that. Also, when I went to Berkeley, it was free — California didn’t charge tuition to in-state students at the time. Right now, I’m helping a couple of other students go to college by paying their tuition. It’s payback for my free education.Ìý
Photo courtesy Alan Cohen