US teen becomes world’s youngest male professor at 18, breaks 306-year-old Guinness record
Most 18-year-olds are only beginning to figure out university life. Nathan Thomas, however, found himself on the other side of the classroom, teaching engineering students who, in many cases, were almost his own age.
The Florida teenager has entered Guinness World Records as the world’s youngest male professor, achieving the feat at 18 years and 346 days. As an engineering instructor at Miami Dade College, Thomas surpassed a record that had stood for 306 years, previously held by Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin, who became a professor at 19 in 1717.
Nathan Thomas started college at just 10
Thomas’s unusually fast academic journey began years before he became a professor. At just 10, he enrolled at Miami Dade College through a dual-enrolment programme while continuing his school education.
By 14, he had moved on to Florida International University, where he went on to complete both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering with honours.
Then came a rather remarkable full-circle moment. Years after arriving at Miami Dade College as a 10-year-old student, Thomas returned to the same institution, only this time as a member of its faculty.
In August 2023, he began teaching COP 2270: C for Engineers, a course introducing engineering students to C programming and computational problem-solving.
Teaching students almost his own age
Being at the front of a classroom filled with students close to his own age hasn’t been an issue for Thomas.
His approach is that learning isn’t defined by someone’s age, but by curiosity and commitment. As he sees it, everyone enters the classroom with essentially the same purpose: to learn, improve and grow.
What he finds particularly rewarding about teaching is seeing students finally grasp concepts that initially seemed difficult.
Thomas also grew up surrounded by engineering. Coming from a family of engineers helped shape his interests early on, while he has credited his mother with making mathematics enjoyable and giving him a strong foundation in science from childhood.
From engineering professor to law student
Becoming a record-breaking professor hasn’t put a ceiling on Thomas’s academic ambitions.
Alongside teaching engineering, he is pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Miami School of Law and is expected to graduate in 2028.
His eventual goal is to specialise in intellectual property law. Thomas wants to combine his engineering background with legal expertise to help protect innovations in science and technology.
He also believes the skills developed through engineering translate naturally into his legal studies, particularly the logical thinking and problem-solving involved in both fields.
The journey behind the Guinness World Record
The Guinness World Record may be the headline achievement, but Thomas’s journey began long before he became the world’s youngest male professor.
He entered college at 10, progressed to Florida International University at 14, completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering with honours and eventually returned to his first college as an instructor. Along the way, he broke a record that had stood for more than three centuries.
Now, while teaching engineering students, Thomas is simultaneously working towards a law degree and a future in intellectual property law. It is a journey shaped not simply by how young he was when he reached each milestone, but by years of curiosity, discipline and a sustained interest in learning.
