Stories about “child prodigies” – exceptionally talented young individuals – have always captivated us. And that is precisely what a 12-year-old boy in the United States has just achieved.
Suborno Isaac Bari is only 12 years old this year. However, he has plans to major in Mathematics and Physics at New York University this coming Fall. Moreover, he aims to complete his research and earn a Ph.D. at a young age.
Suborno is clearly not an ordinary child. This prodigy has just become the youngest student to graduate from high school in Long Island, New York. He hopes to complete his undergraduate program quickly and graduate in Spring 2026. He also aspires to become a Ph.D. in Physics in the future. Currently, Mathematics is the subject that fascinates him the most.
Suborno Isaac Bari celebrating with his father at his high school graduation ceremony held at the end of June. (Source: CNN).
American media reports that Suborno memorized the entire periodic table of elements by the age of 2. He even began teaching at several universities in India starting at the age of 7.
At the end of June, he graduated from Malverne High School in Nassau, New York, becoming the youngest student to complete a high school program in the United States. Suborno achieved this milestone by “skipping” to the 12th grade right after finishing 9th grade.
Suborno explained that his high school used a grading scale of 100 for calculating the overall average across subjects, instead of the usual 4.0 scale. In this system, he scored 96 in his first year and 98 in his second (and final) year at school.
Since starting 12th grade, Suborno has enrolled in several non-credit courses at institutions like New York University (NYU), Stony Brook University, City University of New York, and Brooklyn College.
“For me, (college) is a whole new challenge. There’s more homework, longer classes, many subjects with new materials, all condensed into a much shorter timeframe than in (high school),” the boy shared with CNN.
Suborno’s parents mentioned that besides his outstanding academic abilities, he also demonstrates talent in the arts, debate, and is very skilled at playing the piano. With these qualities, he is expected to “make a name for himself” at NYU, where he plans to earn a Bachelor of Science degree.
CNN reports that Suborno’s parents introduced him to early educational activities from a very young age. His father, Rashidul, is a physics teacher at Brooklyn Technical High School. Meanwhile, Suborno’s mother, Shaheda, is an elementary school teacher. Suborno’s parents began to notice their son’s talents in 2014 when they taught him basic math concepts.
According to Rashidul, at that time, his wife was primarily responsible for teaching Suborno. One day, while Shaheda was teaching him basic calculations like 1+1 or 1+2, the boy quickly answered correctly and then asked his mother more complex calculations, such as n+n.
This question surprised Shaheda immensely. Despite this, Rashidul was not overly shocked because their elder son Refath had also shown exceptional academic abilities.
“At that time, I told my wife that there was nothing surprising about it, and our son might just be trying to get attention. But this did not happen just once or twice. The boy always abstracted every math operation taught,” Rashidul recounted.
As a mathematics graduate student at that time, Rashidul shared his son’s story with one of his professors, who was astonished. From that point on, Suborno received increasing attention and was eventually invited to participate in several university-level courses.
In 2016, former U.S. President Barack Obama sent Suborno a letter praising his academic achievements. By 2020, he received numerous teaching invitations from universities in India and continues to teach three times a year.
Suborno plans to continue the family tradition by becoming a lecturer in Mathematics and Physics in the future.
Regarding his upcoming first semester at NYU this Fall, Suborno shared: “This is amazing. I am really looking forward to embracing the opportunities that will come my way, meeting people who are genuinely passionate about Mathematics and Science, those studying Mathematics and Physics, and those who want to explore the mysteries deep within the universe.”
