American teenager enters Guinness World Records as youngest male professor

Nathan Thomas, an engineer and educator from the United States, has entered the Guinness World Records books as the youngest male professor in history. Guinness World Records confirmed the recognition on 27 July 2026, noting that Thomas joined the faculty of Miami Dade College at the age of 18 years and 346 days.

The record had remained unbroken for centuries. Thomas broke a record standing for 300 years to reach the title. The previous holder, Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin, took up a professorship in 1717 at age 19 and kept the record for 306 years.

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In August 2023, Thomas walked into COP 2270: C for Engineers at Miami Dade College and found a room full of faces close to his own age. He proceeded to lead the class through computing and programming topics that he had studied not long before, at an age younger than several of his students.

Speaking to Guinness World Records about the experience, Thomas said age posed no obstacle in the lecture hall: “Once you’re in that setting, everyone’s there for the same reason, which is to learn. Age doesn’t really factor into that.” He continued: “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.”

On the reward of teaching, he added: “It’s a different kind of satisfaction than solving a problem yourself, almost like getting to relive that feeling through someone else.”

Thomas dual-enrolled at Miami Dade College at age 10, then transferred to Florida International University at 14. By 18, an age when most students begin secondary education, he had already earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, both with Honours.

Along the way, at age 10, he enrolled in dual-enrollment classes at Miami Dade College, and four years later earned an associate degree in mathematics, making him the college’s youngest graduate at the time. That mark stood until April 2025, when his younger brother, Noah, surpassed it by graduating three months sooner.

Thomas has said mathematics was the subject that first “clicked” for him, sparking a passion for STEM subjects, a pull he traces to his upbringing. His parents work as engineers, and he grew up surrounded by that mode of thinking without fully realising its influence on him at the time.

Thomas set his mark just 16 days earlier in age than Alia Sabur, who claimed the youngest female professor title in 2008 at 18 years and 362 days old. Sabur’s record remains separate and unaffected by Thomas’s achievement, as the two titles apply to different genders.

His appointment drew a warm response from college staff. Manny Perez, dean of the School of Engineering, Technology & Design, told the college newspaper The Reporter: “I am proud to have him as part of our staff. I think anytime you have the opportunity to meet a person like Nathan, you realize that there is someone special…someone who can serve as an inspiration to our students.”

Thomas is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Miami School of Law, with graduation expected in 2028. Alongside his teaching role, he remains active in research. He is listed as a co-author on a research project at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus, work that sits alongside his teaching duties.

Thomas’s path, from a ten-year-old dual-enrolment student to a faculty member before turning 19, stands as a marker of what early, sustained study can produce.