In the 1994 film With Honors directed by Alek Keshishian '86, a homeless man finds the only copy of a Harvard student's thesis and sells it back to him one page at a time.

Oliver M. Schmidt wishes he could be so lucky.

Schmidt, a visiting fellow in the History Department, lost all of his research for his Ph.D. dissertation last Thursday evening when his bicycle and briefcase were stolen from outside Lehman Hall in the Yard.

"I did what a city boy shouldn't do," said Schmidt, who is from Germany. "I was tired, and I thought if I left my briefcase on the bike it would be safe. I only ran in for a minute to check my computer account."

When Schmidt returned, his bike, briefcase and two years of research were gone.

"They were black and white composition books, containing my notes from two years of research in Florence and Germany" Schmidt said. "I had just returned from Europe that night, or I would not have been carrying them with me at all."

Schmidt's passport and diary were also in the briefcase, he said.

Schmidt attributed his momentary lapse to his background.

"I'm from a small town in Germany," he said. "I'm used to unlocked doors."

Schmidt said his research focuses on German-American relations, especially student exchange programs between Germany and the U.S.

Schmidt said he is offerring a $200 reward for information leading to the return of the notes.

"I don't even care about the bike," he said