“I always thought about coming back and teaching,” Nathan Thomas, the world’s youngest professor, said. “I thought I meant when I was older… like a lot older.”
MIAMI — A Florida man is teaching college students his age after becoming the world’s youngest professor.
Nathan Thomas broke the 305 year old record after accepting an engineering teaching position at Miami Dade College in Florida at the age of 18 years and 346 days old. It was previously held by Colin Maclaurin, born 1698 and died in 1746, who was 19 when he set the record, according to Guinness World Records.
He is also 16 days younger than Alia Sabur was when she became the world record holder for youngest female professor — a title she has held since 2008.
The prodigy earned his associate degree in mathematics, from the college he now teaches at, when he was 14, according to the school’s student publication The Reporter.
He was the college’s youngest graduate until his younger brother Noah graduated in April, beating his record by three months.
By the time Nathan was 18, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Florida International University.
“I always thought about coming back and teaching one day,” Nathan told The Reporter in 2025. “But when I said one day, I thought I meant when I was older… like a lot older.”
Now, at 21, Nathan says his age isn’t all that important to him teaching engineering.
“Once you’re in that setting, everyone’s there for the same reason, which is to learn,” Nathan told GWR. “Age doesn’t really factor into that. I just focus on trying to do my job well and helping students in whatever way I can. If someone’s willing to put in the effort, that’s really all that matters to me.”
He teaches online courses while being a student himself — this time at the University of Miami School of Law. The Reporter said he expects to graduate in 2028 and wants to work in the intellectual property field.