Editing Tom Lehrer (section)

==Academic and military career==
[[File:Tom Lehrer in The Harvard Album 1947–1948.jpg|thumb|upright|Lehrer in [[Harvard University]]'s 1947–1948 yearbook]]
[[File:Tom Lehrer, Robert H. Welker, David Z. Robinson, and Lewis M. Branscomb perform on Arbor Day at Harvard University, 1951.jpg|thumb|upright|(From left) Lehrer, Robert H. Welker, David Z. Robinson, and [[Lewis M. Branscomb]] perform a hymn for the Harvard Spring rites on Arbor Day, 1951. The quartet performed songs for ''The Physical Revue''.]]
Lehrer graduated [[bachelor of arts]] in mathematics from [[Harvard University]], ''[[magna cum laude]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Toobin |first=Jeffrey R. |author-link=Jeffrey Toobin |date=November 9, 1981 |title=Tom Lehrer |work=The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022215849/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dmdb.org/lehrer/bio.html |title=Tom Lehrer Biography |publisher=Dmdb.org |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=October 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031114929/http://dmdb.org/lehrer/bio.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At Harvard, he was the roommate of the Canadian theologian [[Robert Crouse]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Burton |first=Anthony |author-link=Tony Burton (bishop) |date=Easter 2011 |title=In Memoriam: The Revd. Dr. Robert Crouse |url=http://prayerbook.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PBSC-Newsletter-Easter-2011.pdf |magazine=The Prayer Book Society of Canada Newsletter |page=1 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824054739/http://prayerbook.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PBSC-Newsletter-Easter-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received his [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree the next year and was inducted into [[Phi Beta Kappa]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lynch |first=Peter |date=September 17, 2018 |title=Tom Lehrer: a comical, musical, mathematical genius |language=en |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/tom-lehrer-a-comical-musical-mathematical-genius-1.3632032 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020012058/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/tom-lehrer-a-comical-musical-mathematical-genius-1.3632032 |url-status=live }}</ref>  He later taught mathematics and other classes at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], Harvard, [[Wellesley College|Wellesley]], and the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-26-ca-34112-story.html |title=Tom Lehrer's Playful Satire Still Delivers a Musical Punch |first=Richard |last=Cromelin |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 26, 2000 |access-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023135728/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-26-ca-34112-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Lehrer remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time also for his musical career and to work as a researcher at the [[Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory]].<ref name=sf>{{cite web |url=https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/that-was-the-wit-that-was/Content?oid=2138455 |title=That Was the Wit That Was |first=Jack |last=Boulware |work=[[SF Weekly]] |date=April 19, 2000 |access-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128164739/https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/that-was-the-wit-that-was/Content?oid=2138455 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lehrer was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1955 and served until 1957, working at the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA). Lehrer once stated that he invented the [[Jello shot]] during this time, as a means of circumventing the naval base's ban on alcoholic beverages.<ref name=sf/> 
Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked high school diplomas, Lehrer served as an [[enlisted soldier]], achieving the rank of [[Specialist (rank)|specialist third class]], which he described as being a "corporal [[Minister without portfolio|without portfolio]]".<ref>Monologue self-introduction on ''[[Tom Lehrer Revisited]]''.</ref> These experiences became fodder for songs, such as "The Wild West is Where I Want to Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2fpzw4qNI | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/1U2fpzw4qNI| archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live|title=The Wild West is Where I Want to Be: spoken introduction |first=Tom |last=Lehrer |work=[[The Remains of Tom Lehrer]] |date=May 23, 2000 |access-date=August 15, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2020 Lehrer publicly revealed that he had been assigned to the NSA; since the mere fact of the NSA's existence was classified at the time, Lehrer found himself in the position of implicitly using nuclear weapons work as a cover story for something more sensitive.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Jeremy|author-link=Jeremy Bernstein|title=Quantum Profiles|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|edition=2|isbn=978-0-190-05686-5}}</ref>

In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time math studies at Harvard.<ref name=toobin/> From 1962 he taught mathematics in the [[political science]] department at MIT.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200709/ |title=Tom Lehrer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709231900/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200709/ |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |last=Longley |first=Eric |encyclopedia=[[St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture]] |publisher=CBS Interactive Resource Library |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1965 he gave up on his mathematics dissertation on [[Mode (statistics)|modes]] in statistics, after working on it intermittently for 15 years.<ref name=bensmith/>

In 1972, Lehrer joined the faculty of the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors—"math for tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in [[musical theater]]. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures.<ref name=kapslecture>Lehrer performance excerpt, {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/lehrer |title=Irving "Kaps" Kaplansky's 80th Birthday Celebration|date=1997 |access-date=October 27, 2015}}</ref>

In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class, on the topic of [[infinity]], and retired from academia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spectator.org/33723_whatever-happened-tom-lehrer/ |title=Whatever Happened to Tom Lehrer? |work=The American Spectator |date=April 1, 2013 |first=Alan |last=Reynolds |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=May 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518145545/http://spectator.org/33723_whatever-happened-tom-lehrer/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He has remained in the area, and in 2003 said he still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.<ref name="smh">{{cite news|date=March 1, 2003|title=Stop clapping, this is serious|newspaper=smh.com.au|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/stop-clapping-this-is-serious-20030301-gdgcoz.html|access-date=October 27, 2015|archive-date=August 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814184002/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/stop-clapping-this-is-serious-20030301-gdgcoz.html|url-status=live}}</ref>