Ganesh Sittampalam
Born (1979-02-11) 11 February 1979
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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 4 5 Fletcher, Damien (1 May 2009). "What happens to child geniuses once they grow up?". Daily Mirror. London, U.K. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 "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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