Matthew Zimmerman

On Tuesday I successfully defended my Ph.D. dissertation, and am now a doctor (of philosophy in biophysics, so I'm afraid I can't write you prescriptions). Those of you who feel that me finally finishing my degree after nearly a decade is a sign of the apocalypse (and at points I counted myself among your number) should make your way to the bomb shelters. My public seminar and defense went well, and I only have a few revisions I need to make.

Later that night, I found that my girlfriend Bonnie had thrown together a surprise graduation party for me in the church basement, helped by many other people. I was completely surprised. I kept saying I've never felt so smart and so dumb in the same day. Many of my friends, coworkers, and family were there, and some traveled a long way to be there. Leslie, a friend of Bonnie's and mine, put up some pictures on her blog.

Thank you to everyone who came, and thanks to those who couldn't make it but passed along good wishes. Extra thanks to my sister Suzanne, who put together a very nice (albeit mildly embarrassing) slide show and a wonderful scrapbook for me, my family for driving such a long way in a such a short time to be there the whole day, and to Leslie and Renita for helping to prepare the party and taking wonderful pictures. And of course, enormous thanks to my lovely Bonnie, who deviously masterminded the whole thing. I love all of you.

This has been a very long journey, and I'm so happy and relieved (and in some ways, a little sad) that it is over. I am so grateful for all of you who have walked with me at various phases of the trip. I couldn't have done it without you.

In case you may be concerned that I have fallen off the face of the earth, I've been working on my Ph.D. dissertation. But I am emerging from my cocoon now, as yesterday I turned in my dissertation to my committee. (Yes, this has been a long time in coming-- cough, cough, nine years, cough...)

My defense is scheduled for Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 1:00 PM. I will give an hour-long public presentation of my research, then my advisor and the four other faculty on my committee will shepherd everyone else out of the room for a closed-door oral examination. If all goes well, they will sign my cover page and I will be a doctor. (No, not that kind of doctor.)

The presentation is open to the public (if you are in Charlottesville, it will be held in the large conference room on the fourth floor of Jordan Hall) but I suspect that unless you're a structural biologist, you would find it pretty dull. There will be some sort of celebration to take place that week, so stay tuned.