In Our Words: José's Advanced Degrees José graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science after having completed much of his undergraduate work in Mexico. The University of Pennsylvania then required José to take an exam in Organic Chemistry to demonstrate his level of proficiency in order to be accepted into a graduate program. José earned the required A and was able to begin his graduate work. When reviewing the requirements for his Master’s degree, José found he was one credit shy. His advisor suggested writing a paper on the life of a famous scientist. José rejected this idea as being meaningless, the work already having been done by another biographer. While looking for topics for his paper, José wondered why there were images of owls in so many chemistry textbooks. This led to his writing A Compendium of Owl Lore, completing the requirement for the degree and marking the beginning of a collection of owls that he and Josy amassed throughout their lives. In June of 1948, he was awarded a Master’s degree in Chemistry, the graduation coinciding with Josy earning her Master of Education degree from the same university. José continued his graduate education, earning his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950.