I haven’t been in Professor Wolfe’s position (yet), but I myself don’t have any paper qualifications in the subject I’m paid to be an expert in by an internationally renowned organisation. And I take some pride in this, as I’ve met loads of people with film or media studies degrees who don’t know the first thing about their subject apart from the narrow range encompassed by their set texts (I learned my trade through running a repertory cinema for six years that prided itself in maintaining high-quality programming despite having no income other than via the box office – which concentrated the mind much more than any abstract exam!)

When he hired me for my present job, my boss neither knew nor cared about paper qualifications – what mattered was the half-inch-thick bound portfolio of published work and a sheaf of glowing references. Which is exactly what should be the situation here.

(This reminds me of Christopher Booker’s book The Mad Officials, a collection of similarly deranged anecdotes – one that sprang to mind was a turkey slaughtering firm whose employees went back decades, who were all required to obtain an appropriate qualification. When they turned up at the course, they discovered their tutor’s experience amounted to a fortnight. How on earth was this guy competent to pass judgement?)