美國18歲少女受聘韓國大學細胞學全職教授(圖)
2008/04/22 |
美國18歲少女受聘韓國大學細胞學全職教授(圖)
據美國《紐約郵報》22日報道，美國紐約長島“女神童”艾莉婭﹒薩布爾10歲上大學，14歲在紐約州立大學石溪分校獲得學士學位，隨后在費城德雷塞耳大學攻讀博士學位。今年2月19日，年僅18歲的艾莉婭被韓國建國大學正式聘為細胞科學全職教授。
吉尼斯世界紀錄總部証實，18歲的艾莉婭已經打破了一項被前人保持了300年的世界紀錄，成為有史以來“最年輕的大學教授”。在此之前，英國著名物理學家牛頓19歲的門徒科林﹒麥克勞林曾在1717年被英國大學聘為了教授。
連跳8級上大學
艾莉婭從小就是個“神童”。她兩歲時就能讀完全本小說，甚至能自己寫一些短小說﹔艾莉婭在4年級時就學完了所有中學課程，10歲的她一連跳了8 級，直接升到紐約州立大學石溪分校攻讀學士學位。艾莉婭在14歲時成功獲得了學士學位。此后，她又來到費城德雷塞耳大學開始攻讀博士學位，研究生畢業后， 18歲的艾莉婭來到路易斯安那州新奧爾良市南方大學任教，成了一名年輕的大學物理學教師。
今年2月19日，18歲的艾莉婭被韓國首爾市建國大學先進合成科技系正式聘為細胞科學全職教授，艾莉婭將于下個月前往韓國任教。
拒談愛情私生活
不過，對于物理學之外的東西，艾莉婭似乎顯得有些不自在，譬如她拒絕談論男朋友等私生活話題。艾莉婭只是說，她在紐約和費城德雷塞耳大學中都有朋友，但由于她經常外出旅行，并且將大量時間花在了物理學研究上，所以她目前壓根沒有多少時間進行正常的社交活動。
Guinness names Northport teen world's youngest professor
BY CARL MACGOWAN
Alia Sabur was appointed as a full-time faculty Professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea as research liaison with Stony Brook University. (Photo by Toby Armstrong / April 21, 2008)
Alia Sabur is accustomed to raising people's eyebrows.
The child prodigy from Northport enrolled at Stony Brook University at age 10 and played clarinet with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra at 11.
So perhaps it was inevitable that Sabur would wind up in the Guinness Book of World Records.
That happened last month, when the venerable publication named Sabur the world's youngest college professor.
Sabur was three days shy of her 19th birthday in February when she became a professor at Konkuk University, in Seoul. The previous record was held by a student of physicist Isaac Newton, Colin Maclaurin, who set the mark in 1717.
"He's in every calculus textbook there is," she said. "When I found out about it, I thought, 'I can't replace him.' But it's been 300 years and someone had to replace him, so why not me?"
Konkuk University has an academic partnership with Stony Brook University, where Sabur received a bachelor's degree in 2003 -- when she was 14. Sabur starts in Seoul next month.
She will be doing some classroom instruction, but mostly will focus on research into developing nanotubes for use as cellular probes, which could help discover cures for diseases such as cancer, she said.
Down the road, she would like to develop a noninvasive blood-glucose meter for people with diabetes, she said. Her mother, Julia, and her father, Mark, both have diabetes.
Sabur said classroom teaching in Seoul will be challenging because she doesn't speak Korean. "I can speak math and music," she said.
For now, she is teaching math and physics courses at Southern University in New Orleans. The college was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and remains largely housed in trailers, she said.
While there, she is staying at Mt. Carmel Mother House, a convent occupied by relief workers. She said she wanted to teach in New Orleans to help the city recover.
"They consider me a relief worker in a different way," she said.
A fringe benefit of working at Southern has been exposure to New Orleans' legendary music scene. Listening to the city's jazz music has "opened me up a little bit," Sabur said.
But she is looking forward to going to Korea next month, in part because the country is known for appreciating classical music.
Despite her numerous accomplishments -- she started reading at age 2 -- Sabur said she never had earned a Guinness world record before.
"I think one is pretty good," Sabur said. |
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