If you’re feeling particularly
confused or just can’t make up your mind, then
this list of the 10 youngest students to ever
achieve a doctorate is guaranteed to inspire you –
or maybe kick-start your ambitions.


10. Akshay Venkatesh – 20
Indian-Australian Akshay Venkatesh
distinguished himself at an early age. In 1993,
when he was 11 years old, he won a bronze
medal at the International Physics Olympiad in
Virginia. Venkatesh chose to switch his focus to
mathematics soon after taking home the bronze,
and he went on to win two more Olympiad medals
in the subject. He finished high school when he
was only 13 and went to the University of
Western Australia, graduating with first class
honors in Mathematics in 1997 – the youngest
student ever to do so.
Even then, Venkatesh didn’t pause for a breath,
and a PhD from Princeton University
consummated his academic success. At only 20
years old and with a doctorate under his belt, the
young scholar already had a solid position in the
world of academia. Since completing his PhD in
2002, he has gone from holding a post-doctorate
position at MIT to becoming a Clay Research
Fellow and, most recently, a professor at Stanford
University.


9. Erik Demaine – 20
Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, Erik Demaine took a
somewhat unconventional route when it came to
his education. When he was seven years old, his
father – an artist and sculptor – pulled him out of
school to travel around North America. From the
age of nine, Demaine basically home schooled
himself, and an early interest in computers was
his gateway into math.
At age 12, even though he didn’t have any
academic records or results, Demaine began
studying at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, going on to receive his bachelor’s degree
when he was just 14. He then set his sights on a
PhD, completing pioneering work in
computational origami at the University of
Waterloo before his 21st birthday.
Demaine, who in 2001 became MIT’s youngest
ever professor – at 20 – says, “It’s a pretty
awesome position to be able to think about these
basic mathematical truths and what’s solvable and
not solvable.” His work includes computational
origami, decoding an ancient Incan language, and
protein folding (which crosses over into the field
of biology).


8. Charles Homer Haskins – 19
Charles Homer Haskins was only 19 when, in
1890, he was awarded his PhD in History from
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. After
teaching at Johns Hopkins, Haskins went on to
become a professor at Wisconsin University and
then Harvard University, and he helped set up a
pattern for graduate studies that is still in use
today. He is regarded as the first medieval
historian in the US and is particularly
remembered for his 1927 book The Renaissance of
the Twelfth Century as well as for his academic
work on the Norman institutions.
Haskins also played a role in the fate of nations.
President Woodrow Wilson made him a member
of an inquiry charged with resolving territorial
issues in the wake of World War I. And Haskins
was also part of the US delegation at the Paris
Peace Conference in 1919, where he presented a
solution – which was ultimately accepted – for
dealing with the German state of Saarland.


7. Juliet Beni – 19
Juliet Beni was a college senior at 15; and in 2012,
when she was just 19 years old, she received her
PhD in Psychology from the University of
California, Riverside (UCR), becoming the
youngest student to do so in UCR history. Linda
Scott, a member of the university’s graduate
division for the past three decades, says, “In my
experience we have had no one who even
approaches that age.”
Beni hopes to become a medical doctor, an
ambition she has held since a young age. Self-
discipline, dedication and problem-solving
techniques served Beni well in her bid for a
doctorate, and anyone interested in getting a PhD
would probably do well to cultivate the same kind
of qualities. Perhaps most important of all is Beni’s
sheer determination and persistence. Her advisor
Robin DiMatteo says, “I have never once seen her
get discouraged or fail to try to achieve a goal.”


6. Sho Yano – 18
Sho Yano started college when he was just nine
years old, after chalking up a score of 1,500 out
of 1,600 on his college SATs the year before.
Moreover, while experts on child prodigies say
it’s better for children as young as Yano was not
to go to college, there may be no other choice.
Yano’s mother says, “Some people really think
I’m [a] really pushy mom to prove that my son
is a gifted one. But that’s not the issue. Because…
if your child is going so fast and doing so well
enjoying his life, you cannot just let him stop.”
Yano certainly didn’t stop. He graduated summa
cum laude from Chicago’s Loyola University when
he was 12. And in 2009, aged 18, he received his
PhD in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology from
the University of Chicago. Completing this string
of success, Yano achieved his MD, also from the
University of Chicago, by the time he was 21 –
earning him the nickname “real-life Doogie
Howser.”
“I have a goal,” Yano told CBS News in 2009.
“And I think the worst thing to do in life is fall
short.”


5. Norbert Wiener
Although Norbert Wiener earned a bachelor’s
degree in Mathematics from Tufts College (now
Tufts University) when he was 14 years old in
1909, he didn’t immediately pursue a doctorate in
the same subject area. Instead, he studied
philosophy and zoology before returning to math.
In 1912, Wiener was 17 when he was awarded his
PhD in Mathematical Logic from Harvard
University. He held a job as a journalist for a
brief stint, and also worked on the automation of
anti-aircraft guns during World War II, but he is
best remembered for his pioneering work in the
field of cybernetics.
Cybernetics is concerned with the idea of feedback
and has consequences for societal organization,
philosophy, engineering, biology and other fields.
In Wiener’s own words, “To live effectively is to
live with adequate information. Thus,
communication and control belong to the essence
of man’s inner life, even as they belong to his life
in society.”


4. Ruth Lawrence – 17
In 1985, at the tender age of 13, Ruth Lawrence
graduated from Oxford University with a
bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. The next year,
she got a second degree, this time in Physics,
which was followed by a PhD in Mathematics in
1989 when she was just 17. After spending some
time at Harvard as a junior fellow and working at
the University of Michigan as an associate
professor, Lawrence moved to Israel. There, she
became an associate professor at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
Although Lawrence has gained recognition for
her work in algebraic topology and knot theory,
she has hinted at a sense of regret over the
childhood years that were lost to academia and
has said that she will not put her child through
the same rigorous studies. “I was not in their
shoes,” says Lawrence of her parents. “I very
much appreciate the effort my father put in. I am
enormously grateful for what he did for me. I can
see now that being a parent is very difficult.”
Fortunately, most graduate students won’t face the
same challenges, pressures and media attention
Lawrence did.


3. Balamurali Ambati – 17
Indian-American ophthalmologist and academic
Balamurali Ambati was doing calculus when he
was four years old and co-authored a research
book on AIDS when he was 11. At 13, he
completed his studies at New York University.
And in 1995, when he was 17, he graduated from
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City,
effectively becoming the world’s youngest doctor
(and a Guinness World Record holder). Ambati
completed all his medical training by the age of
24, making him an anomaly in the medical
profession – as most doctors don’t finish their
instruction until their early to mid 30s.
Ambati is happy with his hard work, suggesting
that finishing his training early has given him
time for other life experiences. Clearly, the
proper motivation is key, and Ambati’s studies
have certainly paid off. He says he loves his
career and is very happy as an ophthalmologist.
“You see all kinds of diseases, you do exquisite
surgery, you see patients of all ages – in what
other field could I be a transplant surgeon, a
prosthetic surgeon, an emergency surgeon, do
international and overseas work? I conduct
wonderful research as well. It’s really a very
nice combination.”


2. Kim Ung-Yong – 15
Imagine being a guest student at a university
when you’re three years old and being invited to
do research for NASA when you’re eight. It’s
pretty hard to wrap your mind around. Yet South
Korean former child prodigy Kim Ung-Yong
doesn’t have to imagine; for him, it was a reality.
Still, Kim’s 10 years at NASA weren’t exactly
happy ones. He says, “I led my life like a
machine – I woke up, solved the daily assigned
equation, ate, slept, and so forth. I really didn’t
know what I was doing, and I was lonely and had
no friends.” He also missed his mother.
Although Kim, born in 1963, earned his PhD at
the astoundingly young age of 15 and appeared in
the Guinness Book of World Records for having
the “Highest IQ,” he is quick to point out that
academic success is not always the measure of a
person. “Society should not judge anyone with
unilateral standards – everyone has different
learning levels, hopes, talents, and dreams and
we should respect that.”
Kim, who currently works at Chungbuk National
University, says he’s doing what he really wants
to do. He’s happy, and in the end, that’s what
really counts.


1. Karl Witte – 13
Born in 1800, Karl Witte was the son of an
educational author who is said to have put his
hypotheses to work on his son. His father’s
methods appear to have been successful, though.
When he was nine, Witte could speak five
languages; and incredibly, this prodigy was
awarded his doctorate degree in Philosophy from
the University of Giessen when he was all of 13
years old – another Guinness World Record, and
one that still stands today.
Witte might have ultimately become a lawyer,
and he apparently traveled to Italy in 1818 to
further this goal, but his love of books pulled him
in a different direction. Witte became especially
enamored with Dante’s poems and eventually
became a recognized Dante scholar.
If nothing else, these 10 inspiring intellectuals
prove that hard work and focus can lead the way
to a successful – and hopefully happy – academic
life.

Cc: Ginaz, fedoralahot, Yemlizzy, zeeayinita

.

This is not funny age 13 uhmmm