“As soon as you learn something new,” says S. Michael Yeager, “you realize how much there is that you don't know.”

Yeager, one of five Butler County Court of Common Pleas judges, has made a vocation of learning all he can about his profession.

Since becoming a judge more than a decade ago, Yeager has earned two certificates in judicial matters from the National Judicial College. He's earned his master's degree in judicial studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. And now he's working on a doctorate in the same topic.

If successful, Yeager will join an elite group, currently a half-dozen people in the world, with that degree.

Earning the advanced degrees won't get him additional pay. There's also no promotion opportunities or career advancements accompanying the titles.

“This is just for me,” Yeager said. “And hopefully the citizens of Butler County.”

Yeager, 57, can point to a number of pivotal life moments that brought him to this place. But his life's epiphany occurred in 2000, when Yeager, then a private attorney in the midst of a divorce, made a major life decision.

“I asked God to take control of my life,” said Yeager, who is a member of Muddy Creek United Presbyterian Church. “I said, ‘I'm done. It's your turn. I will go where you place me.' And this is what has happened.”

In 2001, a judgeship opened in the Butler County Courts with the retirement of former President Judge Martin O'Brien.

Pundits all but wrote off Yeager's chances for election, but he launched an aggressive grass roots campaign that earned him both the Republican and Democratic nominations during the primary election.

With little chance of anybody overcoming Yeager in the general election, then-Gov. Tom Ridge appointed Yeager, and the Senate confirmed him, to fulfill O'Brien's unexpired term.

Later that year, Yeager won his first 10-year term.

“They say if you love your job you will never work a day in your life,” he said. “That is this job for me.”

Initially, Yeager presided over all types of matters of law. But in 2005, the county judges divided responsibilities by areas of law. Since then, Yeager has presided over half the county's civil court cases and all matters out of the Orphan's Court/Register of Wills office, except adoptions.

Before becoming a judge, Yeager already had a significant academic career. A 1971 Karns City High School graduate, he earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1976, he earned a master's degree in industrial relations from St. Francis College of Loretta.

And in 1979, he earned a law degree from Ohio Northern University and was later admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar.

Like many of the county judges before him, Yeager very early on traveled to the National Judicial College in Reno to earn his certificate of judicial development, general jurisdiction, in trial skills.

That first certificate ignited something inside him.

“It's fun. ... And it's sort of scary to me,” Yeager said. “I really like to study and read and learn. But it seems like every time I learn something, I realize how much I don't know.”

In 2004, Yeager earned a second certificate from the National Justice College. This one in dispute resolution skills.

In May 2009, he earned his master's degree in judicial studies, with a major in trial judges from the University of Nevada, Reno. Two months later, he began working toward his Ph.D. in judicial studies at the same school.

Judicial studies program director Denise Schaar-Buis said the University of Nevada, Reno, is the only school in the United States offering this doctorate. And to date, only six people have earned the degree.

Using words like “intense” and “strenuous” to describe the program, Schaar-Buis said candidates must be full-time sitting judges who already have a master's degree in judicial studies.

She called Yeager one of the most eager learners” in the programs 10-year history.

Yeager, who plans to finish his classwork early next year, has yet to settle on a topic for his dissertation, which will take about two years to complete.

“Then I'll be done. I can't wait to be done,” he said before sharing the title of another course he's eyeing up for 2013.

While Yeager recognizes much of what he's learned is philosophical, he did a study on guardianship laws and looked at a competency issues as a special study topic.

“It's practical,” Yeager said. “Issues I deal with every day.”

Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr said Yeager's accomplishments are an impressive addition not only to his own resume but also to the county bench.

“Furthering his education has been very important to him,” Doerr said. “And he has worked many long hours for this.”

Yeager, who is up for a retention vote in November, said he loves being a judge and will stay in that role as long as God and the voters of Butler County are willing. If or when his judgeship ends, Yeager says he might use his degrees to teach.

“In my next life maybe,” he said.

In addition to a greater knowledge, Yeager's academic pursuits have allowed him to meet fascinating people and make great friends. Among them is his wife, Olima “Lima” Usmanova, whom he met in 2002 at the National Justice College.

At that time, Lima was a judge in Tajikistan, a former Soviet Republic in central Asia. She was in line to follow her mother's footsteps onto that country's Supreme Court. She had traveled here to learn about this country's justice system.

At that time, Lima knew only a few English words and the couple used a dictionary to communicate.

“He would point to the word he meant, and I would read it,” said Lima, who learned English as a third language.

The couple was married within a year.

“I believed in him right away,” Lima said. “He's honest and dedicated and passionate. This is not just his job, it is his life.”

Lima, 44, said her husband studies morning, noon and night and is so passionate about his studies that she was inspired to get additional college degrees.

Just a year after learning the language, Lima earned her bachelor of arts degree in administration of justice from the University of Pittsburgh. She's now studying at Clarion to become a paralegal.

Among the various artwork displayed in Yeager's chambers at the Butler County Courthouse are paintings of Tajikistan.

There's also pictures of Yeager's daughter, his dog and a pack of wolves. (The nickname for the University of Nevada, Reno, is the wolf pack).

However, his master's degree in judicial studies is on a wall just outside his chamber door.

“There just wasn't room,” Yeager said, noting he didn't attend his commencement ceremony either.

“That's just not what this about for me. This is about learning.”