Group Traditions

THE DONUT

John Ferguson handing The Donut to Wesley Pirkle

 

History of "The Donut"
The story of The Donut begins in 1985, when Dr. Epstein first established his research group at Ohio State. During the move into Smith Lab, the main physics building research at the time, Dr. Epstein brought donuts for his students John Ginder, Sailesh Chittipeddi and Fulin Zou to enjoy from the Buckeye Donuts store on High Street. John put one in his desk drawer to snack on later, but forgot about it. Five years later, John received his PhD and was about to leave the Epstein group when he cleaned out his desk, and found the long neglected donut. Instead of throwing the half-decade-old pastry it away, John thought it appropriate to hand the donut to Sailesh, the student next expected to graduate, and a tradition was born. Now, more than twenty years later, after a successful PhD defense, the graduating student hands the donut to the student next in line. He or she is then charged with the awesome responsibility of keeping the The Donut safe for the next generation of students. Buckeye Donuts is still around, selling fresh confections on High Street 24 hours a day, but their most beloved creation is a donut baked almost a quarter-century ago.
DONUT UPDATE: On June 20, 2008, newly graduated Yurii Bataiev passed The Donut to doctoral candidate Louis Nemzer.

Stephen Etzkorn handing The Cookie to Youngmin Kim


THE COOKIE

History of "The Cookie"
The "General Exam Cookie" or, as it should more properly be termed, the "Candidacy Cookie," is a sugar cookie with M&M's® baked into it. Its use is an outgrowth of the concept of the "Doctoral Donut" (which begs the question, "Should we also have, for example, a Master's Muffin?"). The holder of the cookie is expected to be the next in the Epstein group to take and pass the Ph.D. Candidacy (General) Examination. It was introduced to the group by Darren Gebler, whose wife, Rachelle, baked a batch in honor of his successful completion of this step toward graduation. This particular cookie remained left over after the celebration. Hence, it was decided that a treatment parallel to that of the "Doctoral Donut" was warranted. A label on the container in which it is kept has been signed and dated by every successful candidate since and including Dr. Gebler. Upon completion of the examination, the holder of the "Candidacy Cookie" then passes it to the student next expected to undertake the test.

 

     

Ruthie Shima cuts her cake while Dr. Epstein looks on


 THE CAKE

History of "Cutting the Cake"
As if we didn't have enough food related milestones, each group member is presented with a special cake when he or she bids farewell to the group. Usually it showcases some of the departing member's data and is (fortunately) the only symbolic food that gets eaten after the ceremony. [Although the donut still looks surprisingly edible for 20 years old].

More Cake Cutting Pictures:

 

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Webpage created 12 March 2003 by John Rohrbacher

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