World's Youngest Professor Hopes to Inspire Girls to Study Math

July 15, 2008

Alia Sabur, 18, who holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Stony Brook University and a doctorate in materials science and engineering from Drexel University, is the planet's youngest college professor, according to Guinness World Records.

Not since 1717, when Scotsman Colin Maclaurin became a professor at 19, has someone this young taught in academia. It is a great honor to be in such distinguished company, Sabur told the Voice of America.  Maclaurin, the former record holder, had been a student of Isaac Newton.

Sabur now teaches at Konkuk University, in Seoul, and serves as a research liaison with Stony Brook University. She hopes "to be a role model for other girls," she said, so "that they can prove the same thing, that girls are good at math and science and that you don't have to be really nerdy or weird to be successful in them."

Sabur's research in Konkuk University's Department of Advanced Technology Fusion involves developing nanotube-based cellular probes for medical research and the treatment for disease.

Sabur is also an accomplished musician. The same year that she entered college at age 10, she began studying the clarinet at New York's Juilliard School of Music. She made her orchestral debut at age 11.

Sabur's mother noted that her daughter always appreciated the great master musicians with whom she was able to study. "I think maybe she was a little intimidated by the fact they were so accomplished," she said, "but usually the music and the science go beyond the age."
 
Source: Voice of America, June 16, 2008.