World's oldest graduate: At age 97, Aussie grandpa picks up 4th degree!

"It is never too late to expand your mind, make new friends and challenge yourself to achieve something worthwhile." So says Allan Stewart- an Australian man who will break his own record as the world's oldest graduate when he receives his masters degree at the age of 97.

Local media in Australia reported that the 97-year-old Australian man would set another world record for being the oldest university graduate in the world. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that Allan Stewart, from Tea Gardens on the New South Wales (NSW) North Coast, will become the world's oldest university graduate on Friday afternoon when he graduates with a Master of Clinical Science (Complementary Medicine) from Southern Cross University in Lismore in NSW. The media further stated that his fourth university degree will surpass the Guinness World Record that Stewart set in 2006 when he completed a law degree at the University of New England at age 91.

Stewart completed his first degree with a Bachelor of Dentistry from the University of Sydney in 1936. He worked as a dentist and earned his second degree when he later completed a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at Northwestern University in Chicago, and practiced as a dentist in London, Sydney and the rural areas of northern NSW.

He finished his third degree in law - typically six years - in less than five because he said that "time was of the essence and I better get a wriggle on in case I didn't make my graduation".

"I think I can hang up my mortar board and academic robes after this one - although I said that after my last degree and then I got bored," Mr Stewart told Agence-France Presse news agency before his graduation ceremony late on Friday in the state of New South Wales.

from BBC News Asia

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