As of today, it has been 43 months since my August 2010 decision to begin a doctoral journey. At my last update, on December 21, I thought I was a few weeks away from completion. I was in for a surprise, as the process for completing a dissertation along with the necessary approvals turned out to be nothing like a business process. In a follow-on post next week, I will describe the “process” in more detail for those who may be interested. For now, I am very happy to report that the oral defense lasted 68 minutes and the committee approved my research and dissertation without changes. The 43-month journey has ended. Friday afternoon began with the following email, and the rest of the day was a happy one.  

> On March 28, 2014 at 1:14:21 PM,