At 10, Michael Kearney became the world’s youngest university graduate

At an age when most children are still several years away from secondary school, Michael Kearney was already preparing for life after university. As reported by Guinness World Records, in June 1994, at just 10 years and four months old, the American became the youngest person recorded by Guinness World Records to graduate from a university, earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of South Alabama. His childhood had followed an unusual route from the beginning. He learned to read at eight months, joined Mensa at four and entered junior college at six after completing his high school studies through home education. By the time he became a graduate, his family was already planning what might come next.Michael Kearney became the world’s youngest university graduate at 10Kearney's graduation in 1994 was the point at which an unusual childhood became a documented academic record. He received his BA in anthropology from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, completing a degree normally associated with students many years older.The achievement attracted considerable attention in the United States, although the interest did not last. Rather than treating the deg...