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It’s Actually Dr. General Princess Leia Organa, PhD, According to George Lucas

By Aug 7th, 2017, 11:55 am

Somehow, the world missed a wonderful revelation from George Lucas in 2004: on top of all of her considerable accomplishments, Leia got a doctorate when she was 19.

The University of Glasgow’s Dr. Becca Harrison was reading Carolyn Cocca’s book Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation when she came across the Dr. Organa info, which Lucas had dropped during 2004 commentary on A New Hope.

“She’s like a very sophisticated, urbanized ruler, a senator, so she’s a politician,” Lucas explained of everyone’s favorite space leader. “She’s accomplished, graduated, got her Ph.D. at 19 and she rules people.” The description of Leia’s accomplishments was made in contrast to her twin brother, Luke Skywalker, who Lucas calls “an idealist naive farm boy from the far reaches of the netherlands.”

Needless to say, many of us were excited and thrilled at the news of Dr. Organa, which generated so many tweets that it became a Twitter moment.

Sign me the hell up for this. Sign me up to write this film. I already have headcanons.

And just when you thought the most iconic woman in outer space couldn’t possibly become more legendary, in comes Leia, like, “Let me show you a thing.” And that thing is her doctorate.

I have so many questions about Leia’s doctoral achievement. What did she study? Where did she study? Can you imagine Leia passionately defending her dissertation and then graduating without revisions? I can, and I will, and I am at current. Is there anything that this woman couldn’t do?

(via THR, image: Lucasfilm)

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Kaila Hale-Stern - Managing Editor

Kaila is a lifelong New Yorker. She's written for io9, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, The Awl, Wired, Cosmopolitan, and once published a Harlequin novel you'll never find.