World’s youngest college professor

I'm going to the bathroom."In summary, Sabur is an impressive young woman who has accomplished a lot in her short lifetime. She is the youngest college professor in history and the youngest person to earn a bachelor’s of science degree summa cum laude from a U.S. university. She has also worked in Korea as a professor and directed her career choice to teaching. Her education continued at Drexel University where she earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.
  • #1

Math Is Hard

Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
4,616
37
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24273418/

She made the jump to college at age 10. And by age 14, Sabur was earning a bachelor’s of science degree in applied mathematics summa cum laude from Stony Brook University — the youngest female in U.S. history to do so.

Her education continued at Drexel University, where she earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.

With an unlimited future ahead of her, Sabur directed her first career choice to teaching. She was three days short of her 19th birthday in February when she was hired to become a professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea.

This distinction made her the youngest college professor in history, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, beating the previous record held by Colin Maclaurin in 1717.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
I saw her interview on the tube. Very impressive young woman!
 
  • #3
Ok, that last thing about the cure for cancer. Like seriously, that had to be the dumbest interviewer ever.
 
  • #4
If only things had gone differently for me :cry:.

I could have been a woman.
 
  • #5
Is there a reason the article refuses to tell us what the previous record was? I'm curious to know how much she beat it by.
 
  • #6
JasonRox said:
Ok, that last thing about the cure for cancer. Like seriously, that had to be the dumbest interviewer ever.

Like totally, hold on I am getting a text message. :wink:

People should be fined for using the work 'like'...its horrible.
 
  • #7
word, word, word.
 
  • #8
lol don't be h8in boiiiizzzz!

anyway that's pretty crazy.
 
  • #9
My friend declared war on the word "like" in that context. Its the damn preps that talk like that.
 
  • #10
I wish I had had loftier goals at 18. I was resting on my laurels as the local champion of the "quarters" drinking game.
 
  • #11
Don't sweat it. I'm almost 22 now and I just spent over an hour playing http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/01/play_angband_at_last.php.
 
  • #12
Wow, that is quite impressive!
 
  • #13
mattmns said:
Wow, that is quite impressive!

Thank you. I spent many hours perfecting my quarter bouncing technique. :biggrin:
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
Is there a reason the article refuses to tell us what the previous record was? I'm curious to know how much she beat it by.

It was Maclaurin I believe. I thought they did mention it in this interview or maybe it was another that I saw about her. :biggrin:
 
  • #15
JasonRox said:
Ok, that last thing about the cure for cancer. Like seriously, that had to be the dumbest interviewer ever.

Asking a physicist to cure cancer was a pretty stupid idea. Well whatever, people like ourselves have probably been spending so much time in physics departments we don't remember what it's like to talk to non-physicists anymore.
 
  • #16
RocketSurgery said:
It was Maclaurin I believe. I thought they did mention it in this interview or maybe it was another that I saw about her. :biggrin:

Not who...what age.
 
  • #18
I wonder if the fact that she has done everything, say 10 years before other people will actually lead to anything. What are the advantages of her doing it all so young?
 
  • #19
_Mayday_ said:
I wonder if the fact that she has done everything, say 10 years before other people will actually lead to anything. What are the advantages of her doing it all so young?

I'd be curious to hear from her in another 10 years. Will she still be in the same field or after all that education, be like other 20-somethings and realize she likes something else a lot more than what she liked when she was younger? Will she feel she missed out on something else in her childhood by heading into such a demanding career so early in life? Or maybe she'll be quite happy and doing well and glad she got started so early saving money and building a career while everyone else is still in school struggling to make ends meet.
 
  • #20
Moonbear said:
Not who...what age.

Oh my apologies then. :smile:
 
  • #21
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...prodigy-worlds-youngest-professor-818776.html

"At 10, she was accepted by Stony Brook University in New York, where she took her stuffed toys along to physics classes."



Oh goood at least I'm not the only one.:blushing:

Just kidding. That must have been so awesome though. I can imagine her like teaching her Teddy bear the Schrondinger Equation. :biggrin:

It must have been weird to be naturally that smart too. She must have been confused when she found out not everyone is as smart as her. When she was really little she probably just thought it was normal to pick up on things that fast.
I mean most exceptionally smart people usually have normal childhoods and then start realizing their potential in their early teens or later.

I love how modest and polite she is despite her accomplishments.

That report though...holy crap... I would have had such a difficult time keeping my sarcasm to myself after being asked such a stupid question. I mean like holy cow dude there is such thing as a stupid question.

"Hey Henry!"
"Yes Kim?"
"I'm going to interview this girl who says she's a phyzooosist...Thats like a science right?"
"Yea but it's pronounced physicist, my cousin is a physics major"
"Ohhhh maybe she knows how to cure cancer...thanks Henry! Now I have a closer"
"No Problem Kim...(hehehehehe)"
"What was that?"
"Oh nothing get to ur interview! (snicker snicker)"


"Henry is she serious?"
"Yes Cara, I'm sad to say she is completely serious"...
 
  • #22
RocketSurgery said:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...prodigy-worlds-youngest-professor-818776.html

"At 10, she was accepted by Stony Brook University in New York, where she took her stuffed toys along to physics classes."



Oh goood at least I'm not the only one.:blushing:

Just kidding. That must have been so awesome though. I can imagine her like teaching her Teddy bear the Schrondinger Equation. :biggrin:

It must have been weird to be naturally that smart too. She must have been confused when she found out not everyone is as smart as her. When she was really little she probably just thought it was normal to pick up on things that fast.
I mean most exceptionally smart people usually have normal childhoods and then start realizing their potential in their early teens or later.

I love how modest and polite she is despite her accomplishments.

That report though...holy crap... I would have had such a difficult time keeping my sarcasm to myself after being asked such a stupid question. I mean like holy cow dude there is such thing as a stupid question.

"Hey Henry!"
"Yes Kim?"
"I'm going to interview this girl who says she's a phyzooosist...Thats like a science right?"
"Yea but it's pronounced physicist, my cousin is a physics major"
"Ohhhh maybe she knows how to cure cancer...thanks Henry! Now I have a closer"
"No Problem Kim...(hehehehehe)"
"What was that?"
"Oh nothing get to ur interview! (snicker snicker)"


"Henry is she serious?"
"Yes Cara, I'm sad to say she is completely serious"...

Seriously?...
 
  • #23
Moonbear said:
I'd be curious to hear from her in another 10 years. Will she still be in the same field or after all that education, be like other 20-somethings and realize she likes something else a lot more than what she liked when she was younger? Will she feel she missed out on something else in her childhood by heading into such a demanding career so early in life? Or maybe she'll be quite happy and doing well and glad she got started so early saving money and building a career while everyone else is still in school struggling to make ends meet.

I wonder if people who do it all 'normally' will eventually catch her up. If so I'd rather take the normal route, throwing pencils and rulers, and playing cops and robbers were more my type of thing at 10.
 
  • #24
I also wonder how well she will do as a teacher. Maybe since she's in Korea, it won't be so bad since I get the impression they're pretty strict in the classroom anyway, but I think she'd struggle in the US. The reason is not only is she younger than most of her students, which makes classroom dynamics/respect a little more challenging, but also she has not had a particularly normal childhood and may have difficulty relating to the usual social dynamics among students. She might even be more easily frustrated when they can't learn things as fast as she has, or unable to explain details in different ways if she never needed to think about them differently.
 
  • #25
Moonbear said:
I also wonder how well she will do as a teacher. Maybe since she's in Korea, it won't be so bad since I get the impression they're pretty strict in the classroom anyway, but I think she'd struggle in the US. The reason is not only is she younger than most of her students, which makes classroom dynamics/respect a little more challenging, but also she has not had a particularly normal childhood and may have difficulty relating to the usual social dynamics among students. She might even be more easily frustrated when they can't learn things as fast as she has, or unable to explain details in different ways if she never needed to think about them differently.

She seems pretty patient with the reporter so I don't think she will get frustrated easily. You do have a point though as far as it seems like some of the best teachers are the ones who had to struggle with the material to master it. But if she is willing and patient she could still make a great teacher.
 
  • #26
Why is everyone making such a big deal about the cancer cure question? In light of her research interests, it's not such an irrelevant question.

At Konkuk University, Sabur said she will take part in classroom instruction, but will also focus on research into developing nanotubes for use as cellular probes that could help aid in cures for diseases.
 
  • #27
Math Is Hard said:
Why is everyone making such a big deal about the cancer cure question? In light of her research interests, it's not such an irrelevant question.

Admittedly you do have a very good point. It is however quite frustrating when every non-physicist/non-discovery/history/channel watcher/person with their head in the sand, asks a physicist if theyre going to cure cancer. Or just as annoying, they think that just because you are a bright scientist that you are obligated to do research on a certain disease. Science doesn't work that way. The only way things get discovered is when the scientist is interested and dedicated. Well unless it's an accidental discovery of course. Those are the best ,"Holy Cow that wasn't supposed to happen!", type occurrences.
 
  • #28
Incredible. It will be interesting to see how everything works out.
 
  • #29
RocketSurgery said:
Admittedly you do have a very good point. It is however quite frustrating when every non-physicist/non-discovery/history/channel watcher/person with their head in the sand, asks a physicist if theyre going to cure cancer. Or just as annoying, they think that just because you are a bright scientist that you are obligated to do research on a certain disease. Science doesn't work that way. The only way things get discovered is when the scientist is interested and dedicated. Well unless it's an accidental discovery of course. Those are the best ,"Holy Cow that wasn't supposed to happen!", type occurrences.

Thats funny, becuase I thought she said her PhD was in material science/engineering. I didnt know that was physics...


I don't care how old someone is when they graduate. I care if they do monumental work, in the end of the day THATs what's significant.
 
Last edited:
  • #30
Cyrus said:
Like totally, hold on I am getting a text message. :wink:

People should be fined for using the work 'like'...its horrible.

binzing said:
My friend declared war on the word "like" in that context. Its the damn preps that talk like that.

A recent CC post dealt with this..
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/504068-like.html
 
  • #31
Cyrus said:
Like totally, hold on I am getting a text message. :wink:

People should be fined for using the work 'like'...its horrible.

Like, people have been using "like" since before you were born! So, like, suck it up already and find something new to complain about. :biggrin:
 
  • #32
Cyrus said:
People should be fined for using the work 'like'...its horrible.
You would, like, kill yourself if you'd visit my class. They use 'like' after like every like word like. You like know?
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
I also wonder how well she will do as a teacher. Maybe since she's in Korea, it won't be so bad since I get the impression they're pretty strict in the classroom anyway, but I think she'd struggle in the US. The reason is not only is she younger than most of her students, which makes classroom dynamics/respect a little more challenging, but also she has not had a particularly normal childhood and may have difficulty relating to the usual social dynamics among students. She might even be more easily frustrated when they can't learn things as fast as she has, or unable to explain details in different ways if she never needed to think about them differently.

Good point. We have a new teacher at our school who is straight out of University. She must be about 22, and I find that she is not able to answer some of the more wacky questions. She is only really confident in what is in the syllabus and this is extremely frustrating. Thank goodness she only teaches me rarely.

Cyrus said:
Thats funny, becuase I thought she said her PhD was in material science/engineering. I didnt know that was physics...

I think it is related to both Chemistry and Physics, I guess it would depend ont he degree as to how much is was related to Physics.

It is just scary how much must have gone inside such a small mind. :bugeye:
 
  • #34
At my school Materials Science is a sub-physics major. Everyone in my school does it but I think it's boring no offense :).
 
  • #35
To take from Gordon Ramsey,

"Oh, BLOODY HELL... BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP"

When I am talking to somone and they use the word like, I start to talk using big words nice and slowly so they hopefully realize their own use of the word 'like' non-stop.

Its like, for morons. Even guys do it all the time. I can't f'in stand it!
 
Last edited:

Suggested for: World’s youngest college professor

2018 Thai Cave Rescue Soccer Captain dies while at College in England
Replies
2
Views
587
US College enrollment 60-40 female
Replies
8
Views
875
The Bird and the Teacher
Replies
3
Views
440
Cheating in college classes: how common is it?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Our Friend, Professor Borody, the Poo and Ulcer Doctor is at it Again
Replies
6
Views
814
With College Starting Up in Week or Two, How Are Your Campus COVID Rules?
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
The Battle of the Little Big Chat at Texas A&M
Replies
8
Views
491
How to handle equipment moving as professor/advisor?
Replies
5
Views
821
Nearly five months have passed since graduating college and still I do....
Replies
5
Views
1K
Weird tendency of many professors
Replies
19
Views
509

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top