{{short description|American materials scientist, attorney, and patent examiner}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Alia Sabur | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|2|22}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | fields = Materials science | workplaces = Konkuk University<br />United States Patent and Trademark Office | alma_mater = Stony Brook University (B.S.)<br />Drexel University (M.S.; Ph.D. reported)<br />George Washington University Law School (law degree/J.D. reported) | known_for = Guinness World Record for youngest university professor | awards = Guinness World Record for youngest professor }}
'''Alia Sabur''' (born February 22, 1989) is an American materials scientist, attorney, and patent examiner. She is listed by ''Guinness World Records'' as the world's youngest university professor, after an appointment at Konkuk University took effect on February 19, 2008, when she was 18 years and 362 days old.<ref name="gwr">{{cite web |title=Youngest professor (female) |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/youngest-professor |website=Guinness World Records |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Sabur was born in New York City, New York, to Julie Sabur, who worked as a reporter for News 12 Long Island until 1995, and Mohammed Sabur, a Pakistan native.<ref name="newsday1999">[https://archive.today/20130411163815/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/39573057.html?dids=39573057:39573057&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+09,+1999&author=Samson+Mulugeta.+STAFF+WRITER&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=Real+Genius+/+10-year-old+Alia+Sabur+of+Northport+test+'off+the+IQ+scale.'+/+The+state+will+decide+if+she+belongs+in+high+school+or+stays+with+her+own+class.&pqatl=google&hl=en Newsday Long Island - March 9, 1999 - Real Genius: 10-year-old Alia Sabur of Northport tests 'off the IQ scale']</ref> She showed early signs of intellectual giftedness; according to later press accounts, she learned to read as an infant and tested "off the IQ scale" as a young child.<ref name="irish2015">{{cite news |last=Traynor |first=Cian |date=14 November 2015 |title=A child prodigy's tough years: 'world's youngest professor' comes of age |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/a-child-prodigy-s-tough-years-world-s-youngest-professor-comes-of-age-1.2428913 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref><ref name="newsday1999" />
As a fourth-grader, Sabur left public school and entered Stony Brook University at the age of 10. She graduated ''summa cum laude'' with a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics in 2003, at age 14.<ref name="nyt2003">{{cite news |last=Winerip |first=Michael |date=22 January 2003 |title=Reading at 8 Months? That Was Just the Start |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/22/nyregion/on-education-reading-at-8-months-that-was-just-the-start.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=8 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="reuters2008">{{cite news |date=19 June 2008 |title=U.S. whiz-kid teen named professor in South Korea |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/us-whiz-kid-teen-named-professor-in-south-korea-idUSS19196093/ |work=Reuters |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref> She was also a clarinet player and earned a black belt in taekwondo at age nine.<ref name="nyt2003" /><ref name="gwr" />
After Stony Brook, Sabur attended Drexel University, where she received a master's degree in materials science and engineering. Drexel listed her among the recipients of the university's 2007 Dean's Fellowship.<ref name="drexelhonors">{{cite news |url=http://www.materials.drexel.edu/News/Item/?i=1244 |title=MSE Well Represented at Honors Day Ceremony |access-date=23 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119144902/https://www.materials.drexel.edu/News/Item/?i=1244 |archive-date=19 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Published accounts differ about the status of her Drexel doctorate. ''Guinness World Records'' states that Sabur was awarded a Ph.D. in engineering from Drexel in June 2007.<ref name="gwr" /> However, the ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' reported in April 2008 that, according to Sabur's personal website, she had completed all doctoral requirements except the dissertation, and Reuters reported in June 2008 that she was still finishing a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.<ref name="joongang2008">{{cite news |date=22 April 2008 |title=Konkuk hires world's youngest prof |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2008/04/22/socialAffairs/Konkuk-hires-worlds-youngest-prof/2888987.html |newspaper=Korea JoongAng Daily |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref><ref name="reuters2008" /> A 2015 profile in ''The Irish Times'' described the path to her doctorate as having been obstructed by her later dispute with Drexel.<ref name="irish2015" />
Sabur later studied law. In 2010, ''Bidoun'' reported that she was in her first year of a law degree at Georgetown University, seeking to work on legal protections for graduate students' research.<ref name="bidoun">{{cite web |last=Provan |first=Alexander |title=Prodigy: Alia Sabur: The World's Youngest Professor / Julie Sabur: Mother of the World's Youngest Professor |url=https://www.bidoun.org/articles/prodigy |website=Bidoun |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref> In 2013, ''The Stony Brook Press'' reported that Sabur had a degree from George Washington University Law School and was working for the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner.<ref name="sbpress2013">{{cite news |date=12 September 2013 |title=Former Seawolves dish about accomplishments |url=https://sbpress.com/2013/09/former-seawolves-dish-about-accomplishments/ |newspaper=The Stony Brook Press |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>
==Lawsuits and doctoral-degree status== A lawsuit involving Sabur's education was brought by her parents against the Northport-East Northport school district and related defendants. The case alleged failures to provide appropriate educational services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; most of the claims were dismissed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sabur ex rel. Kessler v. Brosnan, 203 F. Supp. 2d 292 (E.D.N.Y. 2002) |url=https://app.midpage.ai/document/sabur-ex-rel-kessler-v-2507928 |website=Midpage |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>
Sabur's graduate studies at Drexel later became the subject of a civil dispute. According to ''The Irish Times'', Sabur said she sued the university after believing that her Ph.D. adviser was taking credit for her research ideas and using them for grant and patent applications. The adviser denied the allegations and accused her of stealing his work. The case went into private arbitration, and the outcome was confidential; Sabur told ''The Irish Times'' that she had been cleared of the accusations against her.<ref name="irish2015" />. Guinness lists her as having received a Ph.D. from Drexel in June 2007, while other contemporary and later reports described her doctorate as unfinished or obstructed.<ref name="gwr" /><ref name="joongang2008" /><ref name="reuters2008" /><ref name="irish2015" />
==Academic career== In 2007, Sabur took a temporary teaching position at Southern University at New Orleans, which was then still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.<ref name="independent2008">{{cite news |last=McNeill |first=David |date=1 May 2008 |title=University appoints world's youngest professor |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/university-appoints-child-prodigy-worlds-youngest-professor-818776.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512084048/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/university-appoints-child-prodigy-worlds-youngest-professor-818776.html |archive-date=12 May 2008 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="bidoun" />
On February 19, 2008, three days before her 19th birthday, Sabur was appointed to a full-time faculty post in the Department of Advanced Technology Fusion at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea. Her official title, according to ''Guinness World Records'', was "International Professor as Research Liaison with Stony Brook University".<ref name="gwr" /> Reuters reported that her research at Konkuk involved nanoparticle-functionalized nanomaterials for chemical identification using Raman spectroscopy.<ref name="reuters2008" />
The Konkuk appointment was for a one-year contract.<ref name="joongang2008" /> Sabur returned to New York in 2009 and did not continue in the position.<ref name="sbpress2013" /><ref name="irish2015" />
==Deepwater Horizon oil spill== In June 2010, Sabur appeared on CNN and Fox News' ''Hannity'' to discuss an idea that BP had considered as a possible response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.<ref>{{cite episode |transcript=Transcript |title=21-year-old's oil leak idea caught BP's eye |series=American Morning |series-link=American Morning |network=CNN |airdate=June 7, 2010 |transcript-url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1006/07/ltm.01.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Rebecca |date=4 June 2010 |title=LI brainiac offers oil giant a slick fix |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/li_brainiac_offers_oil_giant_slick_Pr0qKWg9i85Bx7T75EQU5N |work=New York Post |access-date=8 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |transcript=Transcript |title=Three Ways to Fix the Gulf Oil Disaster |series=Hannity |series-link=Hannity |network=Fox News |airdate=June 7, 2010 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/three-ways-to-fix-the-gulf-oil-disaster |access-date=8 June 2010}}</ref>
==Legal and patent-examining career== After turning from academic materials science to law, Sabur became an attorney specializing in intellectual property. ''The Irish Times'' reported in 2015 that she was working for the United States Patent and Trademark Office, drawing on her engineering background while helping others protect their research rights.<ref name="irish2015" /> ''The Stony Brook Press'' had reported in 2013 that she was working for the USPTO as a patent examiner.<ref name="sbpress2013" /> Patent-examiner analytics site PatentBots lists examiner "Sabur Alia" in USPTO Art Unit 2812, which covers active solid-state devices and semiconductor-device manufacturing.<ref name="patentbots">{{cite web |title=Examiner Sabur Alia of Art Unit 2812 |url=https://www.patentbots.com/stats/examiner/2812-SABUR-ALIA |website=PatentBots |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite news |last=Duguid |first=Sarah |date=1 October 2010 |title=First Person: Alia Sabur |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3349f4e0-cb74-11df-95c0-00144feab49a |work=Financial Times |access-date=14 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007080624/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3349f4e0-cb74-11df-95c0-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=7 October 2010 |url-status=live}} {{Subscription required}} * {{cite news |last=Traynor |first=Cian |date=14 November 2015 |title=A child prodigy's tough years: 'world's youngest professor' comes of age |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/a-child-prodigy-s-tough-years-world-s-youngest-professor-comes-of-age-1.2428913 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=11 May 2026}}
==External links== * [http://www.aliasabur.com/ Official site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507144310/http://www.aliasabur.com/ |date=2005-05-07 }} * [http://www.azonano.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=1993 AZojomo Research Paper]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabur, Alia}} Category:1989 births Category:21st-century American women engineers Category:21st-century American engineers Category:American people of Pakistani descent Category:Drexel University alumni Category:Engineers from New York City Category:Living people Category:People from Northport, New York Category:Scientists from New York City Category:Stony Brook University alumni Category:Academic staff of Konkuk University