美国罗德岛州一位89岁的老人实现了他花费20年时间为之努力并几乎穷其一生惦记的目标。他获得了博士学位，并成为了一位物理学家。
Manfred Steiner successfully defended his dissertation recently at Brown University in Providence. A dissertation is a long piece of writing about a particular subject that is done to earn a high-level degree at a university.
曼弗雷德·施泰纳最近在普罗维登斯市的布朗大学成功通过了学位论文答辩。学位论文是指关于特定学科的长篇文章，完成论文旨在获得大学高级学位。
Steiner values this degree because it is what he always wanted — and because he overcame health problems that could have interfered with his studies.
施泰纳很看重这个学位，因为这是他一直以来的梦想，而且他还克服了可能会影响他学习的健康问题。
"But I made it, and this was the most gratifying point in my life, to finish it," he told The Associated Press.
他对美联社表示：“但是我做到了，完成这个梦想是我生命中最满意的时刻。”
As a young person in Vienna, Austria, Steiner wanted to become a physicist after reading about Albert Einstein and Max Planck.
作为奥地利维也纳的一位年轻人，斯泰纳在阅读了阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦以及马克斯·普朗克的著作后立志成为一位物理学家。
But after World War II, his mother and uncle advised him that studying medicine would be a better choice. He earned his medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1955 and moved to the United States soon after. In the U.S., he had a successful career studying blood and blood conditions, or hematology.
但是在二战之后，他的母亲和叔叔都建议他学医可能是更好的选择。他于1955年在维也纳大学获得医学学位，不久后移居美国。在美国，他在血液学方面取得了成功。
Steiner studied hematology at Tufts University and biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before becoming a hematologist at Brown University. He became a full professor and led the hematology department at Brown's medical school from 1985 to 1994.
施泰纳在塔夫茨大学学习血液学，在麻省理工学院学习了生物化学，然后在布朗大学成为了血液学家。他成为全职教授，并在1985年到1995年期间领导了布朗医学院的血液学系。
Steiner helped establish a research program in hematology at the University of North Carolina. He directed that program until he retired from medicine in 2000 and returned to Rhode Island.
施泰纳帮助北卡罗来纳大学建立了血液学研究项目。他负责了这个项目，直到2000年从医学界退休并回到罗德岛。
Steiner found medical research pleasing, but it was not quite the same as his interest in physics.
施泰纳认为医学研究令人愉悦，但是这跟他对物理学的兴趣完全不同。
"It was something like a wish that was never fulfilled, that always stuck in the back of my head," he said. "I always thought, you know, once I'm finished with medicine, I really don't want to spend my life just sitting around and maybe doing a little golfing or doing something like that. I wanted to keep active."
他说：“这就像是一个永远无法实现的愿望，一直萦绕在我的脑海里。我一直认为，一旦我从医学界退休，我真不想一辈子闲坐着，打打高尔夫球之类的，我想保持忙碌。”
At age 70, he started taking undergraduate classes at Brown. He was planning to just take a few classes that interested him. But by 2007, he had earned enough credits to join the doctoral program.
在70岁时，他开始在布朗大学攻读本科课程。他本打算只上一些他感兴趣的课程。但是到了2007年，他已经修够学分，可以去读博士课程。
Physics professor Brad Marston was surprised when Steiner entered his quantum mechanics class. Marston had taught graduate students in their 40s, but never in their 70s. But the professor soon realized how serious Steiner was about the subject and how hard he worked.
当施泰纳去上量子力学课程时，物理学教授布拉德·马斯顿惊着了。马斯顿教过40多岁的研究生，但是从未教过70多岁的。但是马斯顿教授很快意识到施泰纳对这个学科有多认真，学习有多努力。
Marston became Steiner's adviser for his dissertation.
马斯顿成为了施泰纳的博士论文导师。
"He has written many papers in medical science, more papers than I've written in physics. He already had a scientific way of thinking that younger students have to develop," Marston said. "One thing that's really true about Manfred is he perseveres."
马斯顿说：“他写了许多医学论文，比我写的物理学论文还多。他已经拥有年轻学生必须学会的科学思维方式……曼弗雷德确实锲而不舍。”
Steiner defended his dissertation in September after recovering from a serious medical condition.
施泰纳9月份从一场重病中康复后完成了论文答辩。
Steiner now hopes to help the professors he befriended during his studies with their research.
施泰纳现在希望帮助他在学习期间结识的教授进行研究。
After the university published a story about Steiner on its website, people across the U.S. contacted him to ask for advice on how to go after their dreams later in life.
这所大学在其官方网站上发布了施泰纳的事迹之后，美国各地的人们都联系他，询问在晚年生活中如何追逐自己的梦想。
He said his advice is: Do what you love to do.
他说他的建议就是：做你喜欢做的事情。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)