Ganesh Sittampalam

Ganesh Sittampalam
Born (1979-02-11) 11 February 1979 (age 45)
Croydon, U.K.
Alma materUniversity of Surrey
University of Oxford

Ganesh Sittampalam (born 11 February 1979) is a British computer specialist and former record holder youngest person to pass an A-Level.[1][2][3]

Sittampalam was born on 11 February 1979 in Croydon.[4] He is the son of Arjuna Sittampalam, a Tamil, and Nela, a Sinhalese, originally from Sri Lanka.[5][6] He is the grandson of Ceylonese government minister C. Sittampalam.[7][8] He is from Surbiton.[9]

At the age of eight Sittampalam received an A grade in O-Level mathematics, becoming the youngest person to receive an A grade at O-Level.[9][10] A year later in June 1988, aged nine years and four months, he received A grades in A-Level mathematics and further mathematics, becoming the youngest person to pass an A-level, which is typically taken at age 18.[9][11][12] Sittampalam received official recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records in April 1989.[12]

Sittampalam became Britain's youngest university student when he joined the University of Surrey aged 11.[7][13] He studied for just one day a week at the university, spending the remaining four days continuing his education at King's College Junior School.[10][14] Sittampalam graduated from the University of Surrey in July 1992, aged 13 and four months, with a first-class bachelor's degree in mathematics.[5][10] He was Britain's youngest graduate for several years.[5][10] He went on to receive a master's degree in computing and a doctorate in intentional programming from the University of Oxford in his 20s.[9]

Sittampalam works on GitHub Copilot as a software engineer and lives in Cambridgeshire.[7] He is married to Amanda and has a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Heather.[9][15]

References

  1. ^ "Boy wonder passes computing A-level". BBC News. London, U.K. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Nine-year-old becomes youngest ever to pass A-level maths with Grade A". The Daily Telegraph. London, U.K. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  3. ^ Gunawardena, Charles A. (2005). Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka. Elgin, U.S.A.: New Dawn Press. p. 337. ISBN 1932705481.
  4. ^ Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). pp. 197–198.
  5. ^ a b c Midgley, Simon (18 July 1992). "Maths prodigy at 13 reflects the Tamil way with numbers". The Independent. London, U.K. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  6. ^ Dissanaike, Tharuka (30 November 1997). "That's Incredible". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Edge, Simon; Carpenter, Julie (28 September 2010). "What happened to the prodigies". Daily Express. London, U.K. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Stamp to honour Cathiravelu Sittampalam". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e Fletcher, Damien (1 May 2009). "What happens to child geniuses once they grow up?". Daily Mirror. London, U.K. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "Maths degree for 13-year-old boy genius is a mere day job". The Herald. Glasgow, U.K. 14 July 1992. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  11. ^ Curtis, Polly (19 August 2004). "A class of their own". The Guardian. London, U.K. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Vintage Kingston: Victory for shopkeepers as Tolworth bus lane scrapped". Surrey Comet. Sutton, U.K. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  13. ^ "No Headline Present". The Herald. Glasgow, U.K. 30 October 1991. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  14. ^ "First-class maths degree for boy, 13". The Independent. London, U.K. 13 July 1992. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  15. ^ Sittampalam, Ganesh. "Ganesh Sittampalam".


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