Summa Cum Laude: can it be for doctorates

I'm doing an expert witness gig in a case where the "expert witness" for the other side has only two degrees, a Master's and a Ph.D., both of them totally fake (from Shelbourne University). On his resume, he claims that both degrees were awarded "summa cum laude."

It's a minor point, but it is my belief that "summa cum laude" is usually (or is it always) reserved for Bachelor's degrees. I can find no references to 'summa' Ph.D. degrees, but no policy statements either.

So I am wondering if anyone has knowledge or opinions in this matter?

Thanks.

John Bear

 

Sorry John,

A two minute internet search turned up a number of them from reputable schools (none of which are both in the states and within the last 100 years, but still....)
http://www.stanford.edu/~fwilhelm/ http://mondrian.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/russell_henry.html http://www.tau.ac.il/~rakefet/vita/rs-sh-cv.htm http://pirate.shu.edu/~murzakui/cv.htm

etc

-me

 

Thank you, Gerstl. I've put my two minutes in as well, searching Google for "Ph.D. summa cum laude," and getting 251 hits. After omitting the LaSalle and Trinity ones, it seems about 5% are from US schools (state universities in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, most of them quite recent) and 95% from non-US.

I'll try a little follow-up to be sure that the US schools actually use those words. This is because I did know one person who put "summa cum laude" on her resume, even though the US university awarded the Ph.D. "with highest honors." Her argument was that the two phrases are synonomous, and she chose the one that has more recognition. A dubious choice, IMHO.

The "expert" with the Shelbourne degrees, incidentally, lists them on his resume as "Shelbourne University, Pennsylvania, US." I am not aware that the diploma mill called Shelbourne (or indeed anything else called Shelbourne) ever claimed to be in Pennsylvania.

 

I checked several of my local colleges (and my own degrees). None distinguish a graduate degree based on grades. I think this is because most people get an "A" in graduate coursework. The University of Vermont, Johnson State College, Saint Micheals College, Casleton State College, Vermont College, and Goddard College do not make any laude designation.
John, good luck with your testimony. The last time I was on deck to testify in court, I was kept waiting four hours. Of course, they settled out of court and and I never got to testify. All dressed up, and no where to go.
All the best!

 

Thanks for the information, "irat." Further internet delving persuades me that the "summa" designation for doctorates is common in Europe and Israel, and rare in the US. I've found more than 500 non-US ones, and only a dozen US from the last fifty years.

This "expert witness" for the other side, in addition to his two phony Shelbourne degrees, also claims a Bachelor's in Pharmaceutical Science from a regionally accredited university that does not offer, and never has offered, degrees in that field, or anything close. And his claimed Associate's is from "Figueroa College," which I cannot find any evidence of.

And based solely on the claims of this fine fellow, one of America's largest corporations is suing a smaller rival for great sums, for theft of intellectual property. Go figure.