Johns Hopkins University
 Department of Mathematics
 404 Krieger Hall
 3400 N. Charles Street
 Baltimore, MD 21218

 410-516-7397 Phone
 410-516-5549 Fax

Graduate Board Oral 

            The final requirement for the Ph.D. is the Graduate Board Oral, which consists of a thesis defense before a faculty committee composed of two members from the Department of Mathematics and two members of the Hopkins faculty from other departments.  The remaining fifth member can be from either inside or outside the Johns Hopkins community.  An alternate from both inside and outside must also be listed, in case of last minute defaults.  Selection of the members of the GBO examining committee is the joint responsibility of the Department Chair and the Mathematics Graduate Chair. The faculty adviser and the student may be consulted regarding the choices of committee members.  The faculty advisor is responsible for initiating the process by recommending appropriate persons. The Academic Program Coordinator schedules the exam.  Because of guidelines established by the Graduate Board, the process should be started at least three months in advance of the intended date of the GBO exam.

            A copy of the final dissertation draft should be given to each member of the committee, and to the Graduate Board Office, two weeks before the date of the GBO exam.

            Once the GBO exam has been passed, and suggested changes to the dissertation have been made, the Chair of Mathematics will certify to the Graduate Board that the student has completed all of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics.  A copy of the student’s dissertation must be submitted to the Commercial Binding Office in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. At this point, the student is informally a Ph.D.  The Graduate Board formally certifies the completion of all requirements in November and May and the University confers degree in May of each year.  In order for the degree to be conferred, the student must be in good financial standing with the University, not owing money for rent, registration, loans, parking fines, tuition, etc.  Normally, the Registrar will notify students of any problems before graduation, but like most systems, this is subject to error, and students would be well advised to check with the Registrar that there is no delinquency and respond quickly to any notice.