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At the age of 81,ÌýAlan Cohen (PhDHist’24) defended his dissertation and received his doctorate in history from Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder. 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 Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØprofessors 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

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Photo courtesy Alan Cohen