American engineer and educator, Nathan Thomas broke a centuries-old record when he returned to his former college as a faculty member before his 19th birthday.
When Nathan Thomas walked into a computer science classroom at Miami Dade College in August 2023, most of his students were roughly his own age. That wasn’t a coincidence — Thomas, born September 9, 2004, in the United States, was just 18 years and 346 days old, making him the youngest male professor in history.
The milestone ended a run that had stood for more than three centuries. The previous record-holder, Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin, was appointed to a professorship in 1717 at age 19 and held the distinction for 306 years. Thomas also came in just 16 days younger than Alia Sabur, the American engineer who became the youngest female professor in 2008 at age 18 years and 362 days.
A head start in the classroom
Thomas’s path to the lectern began unusually early. He dual-enrolled at Miami Dade College at age 10, then transferred to Florida International University at 14. By 18, he had already earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical engineering, graduating with honors in each.
