I get my North American pro news where everyone else does, from translating Chinese websites:

https://www-foxwq-com.translate.goog/ne ... x_tr_hl=en

That's a nice article with many details on Ryan's life. More than what I've picked up by watching his channel. I was impressed that he maintained a Go presence while studying but I never thought about whether any other Go Pros had doctorate degrees. I guess there was that one astronomer-scholar Yasui Santetsu.

Sakai Hideyuki has medical degree.

https://senseis.xmp.net/?SakaiHideyuki