- Title: USA: 14 YEAR OLD GREG SMITH IS MATHEMATICAL GENIUS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- Date: 25th June 2003
- Summary: KESWICK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 25) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAGAZINE COVERS WITH GREG ON THE COVER STILL PICTURE OF YOUNG GREG STILL PHOTO OF GREG WITH HIS PARENTS JANET AND BOB SMITH
- Embargoed: 10th July 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA; KESWICK, VIRGINIA UNITED STATES; UNKNOWN LOCATION, KENYA
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Education,People,Education
- Reuters ID: LVA14NA2F8XZBWCMV8CDD5699DNJ
- Story Text: Greg Smith looks like any other 14-year-old boy. He is a lanky young man, with floppy blond hair who loves to play basketball and goes hiking. Greg is also a genius. His IQ has been measured as being in the top 25% of the top 1percent, and when not attending university, he's an international philanthropist who has been nominated for the nobel peace prize - twice. Now, the whiz kid takes on another grand task -- he's studying for a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Virginia.
While most 14-year-olds are enjoying their summer vacation outside, Greg Smith is in a classroom working out mathematical proofs in his first course at the University of Virginia. Greg is studying for his Ph.D. in mathematics -- the first of four advanced degrees he intends to pursue.
The wunderkind has been on a roll since he was just 18-months-old, when he started solving simple arithmetic problems. By two, he was reading about dinosaurs, and by 5 he could do simple algebra, draw molecules and had read Jules Verne, his favorite author.
So it's no surprise that at 14-years-old, less than a month after he graduated from Randolph-Macon college in Virginia, Greg started studying for a Ph.D - in mathematics.
Greg has set an ambitious course for himself.
"I do desire to get four Ph.D.s, in mathematics, biomedical research, aerospace engineering and political science," he says. Why start with math? "I believe that science is the gateway to understanding the mysteries of our universe and that mathematics is the beacon that lights its path. And so I believe one of the most important things in preparing for the sciences is to get a great mathematics foundation," says Greg.
In the classroom, Greg seems to be on par with his peers. He says he's comfortable, despite the fact that some of his classmates are as much as 10 years his senior.
"I love my life. And I love the abilities I'm gaining to learn. And I see myself as another student who wants to gain as much knowledge as they can," says Greg.
"My other classmates have been wonderful. And I've made many friendships and they've given me such a great opportunity to interact with them as well as to learn."
Routinely, Greg and his classmates work on group projects together, meeting before class to study and eat lunch together. But, it does seem that some of the other students may not be comfortable with the media attention their classroom has received since Greg's arrival. Several students chose not to sit next to Greg as they usually do on the day Reuters visited Greg's class, so as to avoid the camera.
Despite the newfound attention to the class, Professor Kevin McCrimmon says Greg "fits in very well."
"He fits in with the other students, he's not that much shorter than they are. He's a little boyish, but at the mathematical level he keeps up with them and participates equally. So he's one of the gang, he's not really an exception," McCrimmon added.
Media attention may be new to Greg's classmates, but Smith is used to being in the spotlight. He has been profiled by dozens of reporters over the years, and has been interviewed four times by Oprah Winfrey - and he commands up to $10,000 (USD) per public speaking engagement. But it isn't just Greg's supernatural intellect that interests people -- it is also his efforts to save children affected by war, violence and poverty around the world.
Greg started International Youth Advocates (IYA), a philanthropic organization with youth ambassadors around the world whose mission is to promote peace and understanding.
Through IYA, Greg has helped bring aid to children in Sao Paulo and East Timor, he has helped build a public library in Rwanda, and he also helped establish a school in Kenya that brought together the children of three warring tribes. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, not once but twice.
What is his life's mission? Greg's answer is simple; to save the children of the world and make a difference. When he talks about the rights of children and his peace endeavors, his tone is passionate and genuine; although there is a sense that his words ought to come from someone much, much older.
This has been a difficult point says Greg's mother, Janet Smith. Janet says her son outgrew her intellect many years ago, so making choices that will affect his future and his dreams has been especially troublesome.
"Like every parent, you want to make the right choices for your child,"
she says. But when your child aspires to be President of the United States, you have to be especially careful.
Janet and her husband Bob have already moved three times for Greg to pursue his academic career. The college sweethearts built a home in Keswick, Virginia several years ago, after deciding that Greg would attend Randolph-Macon College, and most likely pursue his first Ph.D. at the University of Virginia's historic campus in Charlottesville.
"It was really difficult in the beginning when everything started happening so rapidly and we started realizing the spectrum of potential and ability he had and how far off the norm that it was. And to let go of what our ideas were for his future, and to let him chart his own course, that was really difficult because that started at six.
You know, most people that starts at 17 or 18 years-old. I had a 4-year-old telling me that he wanted to go to MIT."
Since he started college, Greg has made the acquaintance of several Nobel Peace Laureates including Betty Williams and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was invited to meet with the Dalai Lama, although he wasn't able to make it because of a previous speaking engagement. He has mulled over current events with former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, and also met with Queen Noor of Jordan, Jose Ramos Horta and former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office.
When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Greg answers swiftly.
"Well with my Ph.D.s in the sciences I'm hoping to go at some point into research in those fields.
But also I'd like to get a Ph.D. in political science as I said. And with that, I desire at some point to become the President of the United States. I love my country and I want to make sure that in the future I can work as hard as I can to make our country greater than ever before."
Greg holds himself to what he calls "high moral standards," that affect everything he does. Janet says these morals come from Greg, and have not been pushed on him by his family -- if anything, she and her husband have learned from Greg's morals and values. He won't watch movies with more than three curse words and his favorite movie is "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," starring Jimmy Stewart.
So, what about fun? Learning is fun, Greg says. He drives the point home when he says one of his favorite books relates to mathematics theory. But, he says he has plenty of playmates and friends his age and he watches plenty of TV and likes to play videogames. The Smiths say they want to make sure that Greg isn't isolated - so he plays with an indoor soccer league in the winter and rides his bike and plays basketball with other kids his age. But Janet says "you can't put an age on Greg." He's just as comfortable with kids his age as he is sitting in a room with world leaders.
For now though, Greg says he'll just enjoy living the life of a "normal" 14-year-old, pursuing his studies, shooting hoops and making one basket at a time. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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