Northport, NY, native Alia Sabur,19, will join the faculty of Konkuk University next month after she finishes a short-term stint teaching math and physics at Southern University in New Orleans.
At Konkuk University, Sabur said she will take part in classroom instruction, but will also focus on research into developing nanotubes for use as cellular probes that could help aid in cures for diseases.
Ms. Sabur started reading before most infants learn how to walk.
She started talking and reading when she was just 8 months old. She had elementary school finished at age 5.
She made the jump to college at age 10. And by age 14, Sabur was earning a bachelor’s of science degree in applied mathematics summa cum laude from Stony Brook University — the youngest female in U.S. history to do so.
Her education continued at Drexel University, where she earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.
And she’s a black belt in taekwondo. Read more here.
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21 Comments
Nice Long Island girl makes good.
Here’s her official homepage, BTW:
http://www.aliasabur.com/index.html
Weird.
Is Konkuk hiring her because she’s expected to legitimately contribute in her field of research or is this just a sheer novelty-hire for the PR?
Like with all expats, it will be a cultural adjustment for her.
Typical conversations for awhile:
“How old are you? What do you’re parents do? Are you’re parents proud of you? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you married? Would you like to meet my son?”
Etcetera, etcetera…
Oh my gawd what a brain! -_-”"” I wish her the best of luck teaching there.
And yeah, if you find my blog entries at Everything Kimchi worthy of a technorati fav, or a linkex, please don’t hesitate to do so. I shall return the e-love. Cheers!
She’s going to quit when none of the older profs respect her because she’s so young.
This doesn’t seem to be a place that usually accomodates unusual types of people (child geniuses for instance), and also highly values seniority. So, very surprising that she would choose to come here - I’m afraid she may not appreciate the lack of respect she’s likely to receive.
Wow, take it easy… It appears this lady has been able to put up with a lot of challenges, and even though some of us here might have had some bad experiences in Korea, I’m sure the majority consider it a great thing (or the number of foreigners here would not be on the rise).
That girl had better have a limitless appetite for shit sandwiches.
Here’s hoping her gifts are applied wisely, furthering nanotube research and medical science.
And here’s hoping she doesn’t become yet another exotic animal “talent” in the Korean media zoo. Korean TV cameras should be kept far away from her.
Yeah, she’s about 15 lbs away from appearing in 미녀들의 수다!
Her story made me smile.
She is smart enough to stay away from the TV PDs here. It is the old-boy network I wish her good fortune with.
@ #8:
Yeah, too many liquid sauces, no good corned beef, and decent cheese is too expensive. Please, no more imitation crab or yellow squares in my ‘toast.’
I know 21 a year old professor who is no doubtedly offering his experience and gifted intellect into the English program at a regional university in Gyeongsang nam do. I’m sure he has contributed to many linguistic and scientific breakthroughs in their hospitality and tourism department.
NBC should dispatch a reporter immediately and get some pics of the young man smiling in front of his office door with ‘professor’ written on it, and if the journo is lucky he might be able to exchange business cards with the professor.
Migrant workers and 3rd World foreigners are on the rise #7 that’s about all.
And why wouldn’t she want to teach at a real university? I don’t get it. Does she just want to teach here for the cultural experience?
Why teach at a 3rd World university when she could be teaching in the States? Weird!
seems like an odd deal. she’s obviously very bright, but the korean profs will never take her seriously with grad degrees from drexel. i bet she’s bored out of her skull in six months time. this girl needs more stimulation than konkuk can offer. that being said, one of the most interesting profs i know in korea is there and did his phd from monterey institute, so who knows how she’ll fare.
Lol… nice to see JohnT balancing Pawi out on the ideology battle. (in a way Ann Coulter balances Michael Moore out)
WangKon and Judge Judy nail it on this one, I think. After a few years, I’m sure she’ll be working in really cool places doing amazing things. Maybe she’ll be the reason why I won’t go into oncology 10 years later? *crosses fingers*
I thought I read somewhere that Konkuk and her US university have some type of exchange agreement - so maybe that’s behind the idea of her going to Konkuk rather than this coming out of the blue. The job is only a one year contract so maybe she also wanted to chance to see somewhere different for a bit.
We should prepare to welcome her to the Hole. Perhaps reserve a nice handle for her, like “me=mc^2″, and a Dr. Evil gravatar? I’ll host a bbq, and bum can email his lab assignments for her to finish between tequila shots.
Reminds me of a joke: How can you tell that a Korean broke into your house? Your dog is missing and your math homework is done.
#16,
Oh, please, you Americans seem to think your universities are so much better than every body else’s. If they were so great, they wouldn’t be coming to Canada to steal our PhDs.
What exactly is th definition of a professor here?
A one year contract for research and classroom assitance would be lucky to graded as a lecturer in the UK let alone a Prof.