An 18-year-old from Florida, Nathan Thomas, has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s youngest professor. He achieved the milestone at the age of 18 years and 346 days, drawing widespread attention for breaking a record that had stood for more than three centuries.
The previous benchmark dated back to 1717, when Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin became a professor at 19. Guinness’ recognition of Thomas means the long-standing record has now been surpassed after 306 years.
The report also notes that Thomas is 16 days younger than Alia Sabur, who was recorded in 2008 as the world’s youngest female professor at 18. With this, Thomas is described as holding the overall “youngest professor” distinction across both genders.
Thomas teaches engineering at Miami Dade College. He began college coursework alongside school at the age of 10, later starting studies at Florida International University at 14, and completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering before turning 18.
