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.

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. 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. She was also a clarinet player and earned a black belt in taekwondo at age nine. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

References

Further reading

  • Official site
  • AZojomo Research Paper