How long can one man take

A big congratulations needs to go my good comrade and perpetual student - Dr J. He has finally completed his PhD having taken something like 15+ years to finish it. On many levels this is a feat worth celebrating. Dogged determination and stubborness. A frantic race to complete before his supervisors either died or retired. Starting in typewriter days and finishing it in the iPad era. Completing it before your son finishes his secondary education (just - literally by only a month or so). Not getting so totally bored with one topic for that long.

For all of these reasons and more I raise my glass to Jeff and say well done. Big effort mate.

According to Guinness World Records however this effort is paltry compared with the record holder. The longest time to complete a degree (not even a PhD just a degree) was Robert Cronin who began his degree on 9 Feb 1948 and graduated 30 May 2000. 52 years!