- Dorothy Jean Tillman has earnt doctorate at Arizona State University
- By age 14, Tillman already had an associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree
- She also runs an institute to help young people to pursue STEAM careers
A Chicago teenager has become the youngest person – at just 17 years of age – to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioural health at Arizona State University.
At an age where many teens are only just starting to think about life beyond high school, Dorothy Jean Tillman II is now the proud owner of a doctorate – as well as associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Rare academic ability
Dorothy’s mother had spotted her daughter’s rare academic ability from a young age and at just 10 enrolled her in online classes at the College of Lake County in northern Illinois, where she majored in psychology and completed an associate’s degree in 2016.
She later earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Excelsior College in New York in 2018, followed by a master’s degree in science from Unity College in Maine.
Tillman told the Associated Press that she credited her grandmother – former Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman – and trusting in her mother’s guidance for her educational success. “Everything that we were doing didn’t seem abnormal to me or out of the ordinary until it started getting all of the attention,” she said.
Inspiring others
Although there have been sacrifices, such as not experiencing the everyday school things like homecoming dances or school pictures, she admitted.
But if her academic success wasn’t enough, Dorothy has also founded and is chief executive of the Dorothyjeanius STEAM Leadership Institute, which helps young people to engage with the arts and STEAM subjects and hopefully pursue a career in those fields.
Dorothy now plans to fundraise for the Institute, which she would like to franchise one day.
