11-Year-Old Palm Harbor Genius Graduates From St. Pete College

PALM HARBOR — As more than 1,000 graduates collected their newly minted diplomas during the 137th commencement at St. Petersburg College in Largo Saturday, July 21, one graduate stood out among the royal blue caps and gowns.

With a confidence that belied his age, the college’s youngest graduate ever, 11-year-old William Maillis, walked across the stage, shook hands with St. Petersburg College President Tonjua Williams and collected his associate of arts degree.

The Palm Harbor youngster isn’t resting on his laurels. He will attend the University of South Florida in August to pursue a degree in physics. He fully expects to have his doctorate in hand by the time he turns 18 years old.

Maillis, the youngest of three siblings, was declared a genius at age 5 by Ohio State University psychologist Joann Ruthsatz.

He learned to add and subtract at the age of 1 ½, knew the alphabet in three languages at age 3, mastered algebra by the age of 4 and began attending a public elementary school that same year, according to a press release from St. Petersburg College.

In May 2016, at the age of 9, he graduated from Penn-Trafford High School in Pittsburg.

Maillis’ father, the Rev. Peter Maillis, said his son absorbed facts and figures like a sponge absorbs water.

He was speaking in complete sentences by 7 months old. Learning new facts became a game for the little boy. He’d practice math and spelling using magnetic letters and numbers on the refrigerator and his brother would quiz him on algebra during car trips.

Even his favorite hobby involves critical thinking.

"I like video games about alternate history," he said. "Games set in historical times that ask questions like, what if Constantinople never fell."

He said he also loves learning new languages and said he's currently developing his own language, a mixture of English and Greek.

His parents said their son had no problem fitting into the college environment despite his youth. At first, the other students wanted to know how old he was and how he came to be in college at such a young age. But when they realized he could hold his own in any classroom, his fellow students just accepted him.

While Maillis can engage in in-depth debates on the impact of World War I, the Cold War and the Great Depression, his main interest is astrophysics. Influenced by his religious upbringing, Maillis said he wants to prove the existence of God through science.

"I want to prove that God does exist through science," he said. "Science is a tool for explaining the world. It doesn’t disprove God."

Video via Greek Orthodox Church