Erik Demaine
When Erik Demaine joined the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) he was 20, and the youngest professor ever in the history of the school. Demaine home schooled while traveling around the United States with his father, a goldsmith and glassblower. Demaine started college when he was 12, and finished his bachelor’s degree two years later at age 14. In addition to being a mathematical and computational genius, Demaine is something of an artist. He wrote his dissertation on the computational logic of origami, and is known as the leading theoretician of origami mathematics, which uses paper origami models to understand mathematical concepts and apply them to disciplines like architecture, robotics and molecular biology. In 2008 Demain collaborated with his father on an artistic collection of mathematical origami, which was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art and ultimately incorporated into the museum’s permanent collection.