Nathan Thomas, 18, officially broke a 306-year-old Guinness World Record when he took a teaching position at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus in August 2023
.
When he walked into his first class to teach COP 2270: C for Engineers, most of his students were teenagers, just like him
.
The professorship shattered
a record previously held by Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin, who was 19 years old when he was appointed professor at Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1717
.
Guinness World Records confirmed on July 27 that Nathan Thomas, at 18 years and 346 days old, is the youngest professor (male)
.
Thomas had prepared for this moment with an extraordinary academic trajectory.
He enrolled at Miami-Dade College as a dual-enrolled student at the age of 10, before transferring to Florida International University at 14
.
By age 18, the bar was already raised.
He had already completed both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, each obtained with Honours
.
Despite his youth in front of the lecture hall, Thomas addressed the elephant in the room directly.
“Once you’re in that setting, everyone’s there for the same reason, which is to learn. 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”
, he told Guinness World Records.
But returning to the college as a professor didn’t happen exactly as he’d planned.
“I always thought about coming back and teaching one day. But when I said one day, I thought I meant when I was older…like a lot older”
, he said.
The reaction from Miami Dade College leadership was enthusiastic.
His appointment drew a warm response from college staff, with Manny Perez, dean of the School of Engineering, Technology & Design, telling 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”
.
His position as the youngest professor also marked his competitive edge.
He was also 16 days younger than Alia Sabur (USA, b. 22 February 1989) when she claimed her title for the youngest professor (female) in 2008, at the incredible age of 18 years and 362 days
.
The teaching dynamic wasn’t without its awkwardness.
His youth often blindsides his students, with younger students sometimes amazed that their professor is about the same age as they are, while older students sometimes joked that he is young enough to be their son
, Perez said.
But Thomas structured his approach differently from traditional lecturing.
He designs his curriculum to include a heavy dose of hands-on projects like his mom designed for him, saying the most rewarding part of teaching is seeing students understand concepts they had initially found difficult, and that teaching also deepens his own understanding because explaining a subject requires mastering it more thoroughly
.
In the viral moment that put the record in the spotlight,
an American academic broke one of the longest-standing records in Guinness World Records history, becoming the youngest professor ever after claiming a title that had gone unchallenged for 306 years
.
Walking into COP 2270: C for Engineers at Miami Dade College in August 2023, he was met with a sea of faces roughly the same age as his own, yet he commanded the room while guiding them through complex computing and programming lessons, teaching the class material that he learned when he was younger than them
.
His return to Miami-Dade College, this time as a member of the teaching staff, marks the completion of a trajectory that placed him in the same institution where his academic life first began
.
Thomas’s achievements extended beyond teaching.
He was the college’s youngest graduate until his younger brother, Noah, graduated in April, beating his older brother’s record by three months
.
The prodigy now balances dual pursuits.
With an eternal thirst for knowledge, Nathan is currently teaching online courses, while concurrently preparing to graduate with a law degree in 2028, telling The Reporter at Miami Dade College that he plans to work in the field of intellectual property law, with a focus on STEM
.
Reflecting on his career switch, Thomas credited his engineering background.
“Engineering taught me how to break down complex problems in a structured way, and that’s carried over into how I approach law school now,” he said to Guinness World Records
.
Off the clock, he’s remarkably ordinary.
Nathan is still a regular 21-year-old – and outside of school, he unwinds with sports and music like any other young adult, loving playing basketball, tennis, and golf, and enjoying rooting for the Boston Celtics and New England Patriots, while he plays classical piano, yet prefers to turn his headphones on to Drake or EDM/house music when looking to unwind
.
Nathan is currently preparing to graduate with a law degree in 2028
.