America's next first lady will be Dr Jill Biden. The qualification is also referenced in her Twitter handle: @DrBiden. She has good reason and the right to use it, having received a research doctoral degree from a legitimate US university 13 years ago.
On November 7, the day the 2020 presidential election was called for Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, Dr Biden’s Twitter feed bore a photo of the future president and his wife holding up a sign in their living room. It read: Dr and vice president Biden live here.
The strikethrough of the word 'vice', Mr Biden’s second-string job in the two-term Obama administration, was the point. More than 30 years after Mr Biden first ran for the highest office in America, he finally prevailed.
His loving wife was recording a proud family moment, as well she might.
The photo was jokey and all too true. Indeed, it was Dr and President Biden who lived in their house in Wilmington, Delaware.
Soon, the doctor and her presidential spouse would move to a different residence, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, otherwise known as the White House.
Except that the conservative curmudgeon of the human species won’t have it. Joseph Epstein, 83, BA and an essayist of long-standing, recently advised Dr Biden, in a patronising opinion piece, to drop the title because it “sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic”.
Mr Epstein even referred to the 69-year-old soon-to-be US first lady as “kiddo”. He went on to question her right to the medical-sounding qualification: “Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title ‘Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs’,” Mr Epstein wrote. “A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr’ unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.”
The rebuke drew widespread academic angst and accusations of sexism, but it is hardly new or original, which is to say it might not serve as the ideal doctoral research topic. Mr Epstein's gripe against the doctor heading to the White House reprised a 2013 complaint by Charles C W Cooke in the conservative magazine National Review.
But is Dr Biden really pretending to something to which she has no right?
At the time Dr Biden was America’s second lady, which led Mr Cooke, who mockingly revealed having a BA and MA, to diagnose her “credential snobbery”. He also cast doubt on her “doctorate in ‘educational leadership’, whatever the hell that is”. Dr Biden, Mr Cooke concluded, is “not alone in having recognised the virtue of pretending to be a doctor in public”.
But is Dr Biden really pretending to something to which she has no right?
Jill Biden during her husband's first campaign event, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, April, 29, 2019. EPA
The question has particular resonance for me as I received my non-medical doctorate three months ago. It is in creative and critical research and the topic was a mouthful: 'A critical investigation of the Platonic influence on early Arab philosophers’ notion of creative control'. People like Mr Cooke and Mr Epstein might respond, “whatever the hell that is”.
Sections of the medical community too, as happened in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2016, might question “who should be allowed to call themselves doctor?”
But the Canadian kerfuffle was not about non-medical doctoral degree holders such as Dr Biden. Or me.
At the time, an Ontario audiologist, a healthcare worker who wasn’t the type of doctor you see for a bad back, had asked for the legal right to use the title “Dr” on the strength of her research doctorate.
The Canadian view eventually veered towards laissez faire so "long as there is no intent to mislead patients, and all professionals are aware of their abilities and boundaries".
That seems to be a sensible way to look at the matter of who gets to use “Dr”. It is discretionary if you are not a medical doctor, the title being used mostly in academic settings.
A doctor of philosophy degree derives from the original Greek 'philosophia', meaning love of wisdom and from the Latin word 'docco', which means to teach.
In a sense, Dr Biden has a license to teach, something she has done for years, the last 11 of which were as a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College.
That is exactly the sort of academic environment where a doctoral degree is recognised for what it is. Anyone who has earned a doctorate has the right to use the title as they see fit.
Rashmee Roshan Lall is a columnist for The National
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
