College graduates typically wait about six weeks after commencement before receiving their bachelor degree certificate. The delay seemed endless to one Chicago-area doctor, however, who waited almost half a century.
This month, Thomas Victor will at last be an official alumnus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, closing a chapter that began when he left the University of Illinois's former Chicago undergraduate branch during the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. The University never registered him as a graduate.
Administrators believe the error stemmed from an old program that allowed students to leave for medical school a year before earning their bachelor's degree. They would receive the bachelor's degree after two years of medical school.
Seeking to save himself a year's tuition—about $250 at the time—Victor took advantage and left early for the University of Illinois-Chicago Medical School in 1960. He went on to earn medical and doctoral degrees, and researched illnesses such as malaria and breast cancer. Since 1995 he's directed the Department of Pathology at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.
He never forgot his missing degree, however, and in 2007 his inquiries reached David Eaton, director of development at the College of Medicine and the U of I Medical Center in Chicago, who took the matter to LAS.
Lucy Rich, senior assistant dean at LAS, said correcting the mistake required the staff of three registrars—from U of I Medical School, U of I, and UIC—who compiled Victor's records and uncovered an old eligibility formula. Sure enough, Victor earned a degree in chemistry and zoology some 46 years ago.
Victor harbors no ill feelings over the long wait. In fact, he says he's "pleased as punch."
"I'm very appreciative of all the efforts that were put out on my behalf," Victor says. "I'm proud of the University of Illinois and I've worked hard to make them proud."
