• 1. Joanna Angel

    Ms. Angel holds a degree in English Literature from Rutgers University and a minor in Film Studies. She puts these degrees to good use, writing and directing her own videos becoming a figurehead in the alt porn movement. Not only that, her writing has appeared in The New York Times and Spin Magazine.

  • 2. Missy Woods

    Woods has a bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Texas at Permian Basin and is currently working on her masters. She got into the adult industry to work through her own sexual compulsions and to help with research toward her masters degree.

  • 3. Lorelei Lee

    A 2008 graduate from San Francisco State University, she is currently enrolled in New York Universitys graduate program for Creative Writing. A long time fixture in the San Francisco fetish scene, we imagine shell be putting those creative writing talents to use with a tell all book. Cody Diablo, watch out!

  • 4. Sasha Grey

    Sasha is arguably the most famous porn star in the world right now. Though she has no academic background, she regularly espouses concepts you would find in upper division undergraduate courses like existentialism, German expressionism, and French New Wave; with this, Grey has built a brand around herself as being a bit brainier than your average porn star.

  • 5. Ron Jeremy

    Ron earned a bachelor’s degree in Education and Theater and a master’s degree in Special Education from Queens College in New York. He then went on to teach special education classes in the New York City area. Being the most recognizable male porn star in the industry, Ron has gone on to take part in lectures and debates around the world to defend pornography.

  • 6. A.J. Baily

    Admitting that she spends a lot of free time ready Tolstoy and Oscar Wilde, Baily has Masters Degrees in both Anthropology and Museum studies from St. Andrews University in Scotland Se first entered the world of adult entertainment when she needed to find a way to finance her postgraduate studies. On her academic studies, Ms. Baily had to say, “I quite like being called the world’s brainiest porn star… it is a cliche that all porn stars are airheads.”

  • 7. Sharon Mitchell

    Starting her adult career in the mid-1970s, Sharon has been through it all. At the end of her career, Mitchell obtained a Ph.D in Human Sexuality from the somewhat dubious Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. Nevertheless, the most impressive feat in her career is that she founded the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation. The invaluable organization provides STD testing and maintains STD records for those performing in the adult industry. Without this regulatory body, there would be no way of knowing the health status of talent performing in the industry.

  • 8. Tera Patrick

    Growing up in Idaho, Patrick had ambitions of being in the health care industry. She is a Registered Nurse and a certified EMT. She even went on the earn a bachelors in Microbiology. She moved to southern California for school where she got into modeling to support herself. This, of course led to porn. But since then she has become a powerhouse in the adult industry. Launching her production company Teravision, a talent agency, and recently penned a memoir about her rise in the adult industry.

  • 9. Nina Hartley

    Starting her adult industry career in the mid-1980s, much like Sharon Mitchell, Nina Hartley has been through it all. Academically she graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University’s nursing school, and is a registered nurse. Like Ron Jermey she travels the world weighing in on lectures and debates as well as acting as an expert in all things sex. In 2006, she wrote the book Nina Hartley’s Guide to Total Sex.

  • 10. Asia Carrera

    Asia Carrera was an overachiever from the start. She studied piano as a child and played Carnegie hall twice even before she was 15. By 16, she taught English at Tsuruga College in Japan She won a full academic scholarship to Rutgers University, where she double-majored in Business and Japanese. She also went on to become a member of Mensa. During her time in the adult industry, she rivaled Jenna Jameson as one of the 90s top porn stars. After her career in the industry, she became an early adopter of the internet, being one of the first porn stars to create their own web site. (via Hustler Magazine)