18-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Male Professor in History, Breaking a 306-Year-Old Record
Most people spend their late teens figuring out what to do with their lives. Nathan Thomas spent his standing in front of a classroom, teaching.
At 18 years and 346 days old, Thomas became the youngest male professor in recorded history, according to Guinness World Records. The record he broke had stood since 1746 — set by Colin Maclaurin, who was 19 when he first took up teaching. Three hundred and six years is a long time for a record to hold, and Thomas beat it by taking a job teaching engineering at Miami Dade College.
He's not far off the overall record, either. Alia Sabur currently holds the title for youngest professor overall — female or male — at 18 years and 362 days. Thomas came in just 16 days younger than that on the men's side.
Teaching People His Own Age
Here's the part that makes the story genuinely interesting: Thomas started teaching COP 2270, a C programming course for engineers, back in August 2023 — to a classroom full of students roughly his own age.
You'd think that'd be awkward. Thomas says it isn't. "Once you're in that setting, everyone's there for the same reason, which is to learn," Thomas told Guinness World Records. "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."
His path here started absurdly early. Thomas dual-enrolled at Miami Dade College at age 10. By 14, he'd transferred to Florida International University. Four years after that, he walked away with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in electrical engineering — with honors on both.
Where The Talent Came From
Thomas comes from a family of engineers, so maybe the aptitude was baked in early. “[My mom] had a way of making things feel simple even when they weren’t, and I think some of that stuck with me more than I realized at the time,” he told GWR.
“Now, the part about teaching that I like most is watching something click for a student. You can kind of see it happen in real time, when a concept that felt impossible a few minutes ago suddenly makes sense,” Thomas continued.
“It’s a different kind of satisfaction than solving a problem yourself, almost like getting to relive that feeling through someone else,” he added. “Teaching something forces you to understand it on a whole other level — so I end up learning just as much from it as the students do, if not more.”
Manny Perez, dean of the School of Engineering, Technology & Design at Miami Dade College, doesn't hide his enthusiasm about having Thomas on staff. He's called Thomas the kind of person who reminds you what's actually possible — someone who can genuinely inspire the students around him.
Not Done Yet
Thomas isn't stopping at engineering. He's currently taking classes online while working toward a law degree at the University of Miami School of Law, with a 2028 graduation date on the calendar. His plan is to specialize in intellectual property law, with a focus on STEM — a pretty natural next step given his background.
He says engineering trained him to break complicated problems down in a structured way, and that habit has carried straight over into how he's approaching law school now. Sounds like whatever comes next for Nathan Thomas, he's already got the tools to figure it out.
Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.