Top 8 youngest professors in the world: Teaching university at the age of 18

The youngest professors in the world

Around the world, there are many people who graduated from university before they even reached their teenage years and became professors, teaching university level to their peers. We invite you to take a look at the 8 youngest professors in the world, see who they are.

1. Alia Sabur

• Born: 22/2/1989
• Age at becoming a professor: 18 years 11 months 28 days
• University teaching start date: February 19, 2008
• Teaching place: Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea
• Major: Faculty of Advanced Fusion Technology
• Hometown: New York City, USA

She is the youngest professor in the world as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Alia Sabur was appointed professor just three days before her 19th birthday, making her the youngest university professor in the world. She also won the title of the youngest professor in the world recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records and to this day no one has broken this record of Alia.

In addition, Alia Sabur also holds the position of the 6th youngest university graduate in the world, she graduated from Stony Brook University in New York, USA at the age of 14, majoring in Applied Mathematics. At the age of 17, she obtained a master's degree from Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in Materials Science & Engineering.

However, Professor Alia Sabur only taught at Konkuk University for 1 year, then she returned to the US and worked at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as an intellectual property lawyer.

In addition to studying well, Alia is also quite good at music and martial arts, she has a black belt in Taekwondo and plays the clarinet in the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra.

2. Colin Maclaurin

• Born: 2/1698, died on June 14, 1746
• Age when becoming a professor: 19 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1717
• Teaching place: University of Aberdeen
• Specialization: Mathematics
• Hometown: Kilmodan, Argyll, Scotland

He used to be a math prodigy, entering college at the age of 11.

Colin Maclaurin held the record for the youngest professor in the world for three centuries, until Alia Sabur broke his record. He used to be a math prodigy, entering college at the age of 11. He participated in the entrance exam lasting 10 days in a row, won the top position in advanced math and became a professor at the age of 19.

At the age of 21, he knew the famous physicist Isaac Newton and was invited by Newton to teach at the University of Edinburgh, Newton took the initiative to pay Colin with his own pocket money.

3. Erik Demaine

• Born: February 28, 1981
• Age when becoming a professor: 20 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 2001
• Teaching place: MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Specialization: Computer Science
• Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Erik graduated from college at the age of 14.

Erik was considered a child prodigy at the age of 7, instead of being sent to study all subjects, he was taught by his father and allowed to travel around North America, until Erik "didn't go to school" until the age of 12. He went straight to Dalhousie University (Canada) and graduated at the age of 14, then earned a master's degree from the University of Waterloo (USA).

Erik worked as an assistant professor at MIT from 2001, until 2011 he officially took the class, becoming a full-time professor. Currently Erik is still working at MIT, in the description of the school's history, Erik Demaine's name is still solemnly noted as the youngest professor in MIT history.

One of Erik's best majors is Computational Origami, aka Paper Folding Geometry. He published a book called Geometric Paper Folding Algorithms in 2007.

4. Charles Homer Haskins

• Born on: December 21, 1870 - died on May 14, 1937
• Age when becoming a professor: 20 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1890
• Teaching place: University of Wisconsin (USA)
• Specialization: History
• Hometown: Meadville, Pennsylvania, USA

Charles was a famous prodigy of the late 19th century.

Charles was a famous prodigy in the late 19th century, by the age of 10 he was fluent in Latin and Greek. At the age of 19, he both studied for a doctorate at John Hopkins University and taught at the university.

As soon as he graduated with a doctorate at the age of 20, he returned to work at the University of Wisconsin.

At the age of 22, Haskins became a full-time professor at the university, and also held the position of president of the European Historical Society at the University of Wisconsin.

From 1902 to 1931, he worked at Harvard University, where he published a graduate study program in history, which is still used by Harvard today.

5. Terence Tao (Terry Tao)

• Born: 17/7/1975
• Age when becoming a professor: 21 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1996
• Teaching place: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Specialization: Mathematics
• Hometown: Adelaide, Australia

When he was 9 years old, he solved advanced math at university level.

Terry Tao was quite famous in the field of mathematics when he was a child, at the age of 9 he solved advanced math at the university level. In 1992 Terry received a Fulbright PhD Research Fellowship, he graduated with a PhD in 1996 from Princeton University and began teaching, in 1999 he became a full-time professor at the school, honored as the youngest professor. in the history of UCLA.

Terry Tao won the Fields Medal in 2006.

6. Stephen Wolfram

• Born: August 29, 1959
• Age when becoming a professor: 21 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1981
• Teaching place: Caltech (California Institute of Technology)
• Major: Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science
• Hometown: London, UK

At 18, Stephen entered Caltech and graduated at 21.

Contrary to being considered a prodigy, when he went to school, Stephen Wolfram was judged by his teachers as a poor student because he could not do elementary math. Actually Stephen was not interested in basic math because it was too simple and boring. He began to excel in his approach to calculus and advanced physics.

By the age of 14, he had published 3 books on Particle Physics. At the age of 15, he began to study Quantum Physics and published his scientific research in peer-reviewed journals (with peer review from industry experts).

At the age of 18, Stephen entered Caltech and graduated at the age of 21, his excellent performance led the school to invite him to stay and teach at the age of 21.

A few years later, Stephen left Caltech and started his own company, Wolfram Research Inc., specializing in the production of computational software, one of the most famous products being Wolfram Mathematica software.

7. Charles Fefferman

• Born: April 18, 1949
• Age when becoming a professor: 22 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1971
• Teaching place: University of Chicago
• Specialization: Mathematics
• Hometown: Washington DC (USA)

 He entered university at the age of 14 and published scientific research papers at the age of 14.

Charles became acquainted with 4th grade math after asking his father how rockets work. He was taught calculus by his father and taught himself how to master calculus in just a few days. He entered university at the age of 14 and published scientific research papers at the age of 14.

Charles Fefferman is considered one of the youngest full-time professors because most of these people began their undergraduate teaching careers as teaching assistants. He won the Fields Medal in 1978.

8. Murray Gell-Mann

• Born on: September 15, 1929 - died on May 24, 2019
• Age when becoming a professor: 23 years old
• Year of starting university teaching: 1952
• Place of teaching: Urbana-Champaign University, Illinois
• Specialization: Physics
• Hometown: New York City, USA

At 22, he earned his doctorate from MIT and became a visiting professor.

Murray Gell-Mann attended Yale University at age 14 and earned a bachelor's degree in physics there. At the age of 22 he obtained his doctorate from MIT and became a visiting professor at Urbana-Champaign in 1952, 1953. In 1955 he joined Caltech, in 1969 he won the Nobel Prize for his work on elementary particles. and gave names to subatomic particles.

He co-founded the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, one of the leading institutions in physics today.