After completing his master's thesis at the University of Texas in Austin, Tyson began to pursue a doctorate in the same field—astronomy. But things didn't go quite as planned. Tyson faced racial discrimination on the campus, being stopped and searched by campus police on seven different occasions as he entered the school's physics building. He also found little support from his dissertation advisers due to his lack of progress in the lab—and his aforementioned deep involvement in the school's sports and extracurricular programs.
Eventually, his dissertation advisers dissolved their committee—essentially flunking Tyson out of their doctorate program. As UT professor Craig Wheeler recalls, "Research was not his strength. He was never going to solve any major scientific problems. But I knew he was going to do something big, because he had charisma. He's warm and funny, but he also has serious backbone, ambition, confidence—and that's taken him far." Tyson himself agrees with the assessment, saying, "I don't hold a grudge, and I don't blame the department for kicking me out. I might have done the same thing in their position." However, he has also made it clear that he still has some raw feelings about the experience at UT: "When I look at my life, the tracks of my success take a detour around Texas," he says. "It's the only place where I didn't succeed, and I'm still figuring out what that means."
