WELCOME BACK: In Brief

CHICAGO -- Many students at the University have been called "a quick study," but entering graduate student Alkes Price may be the quickest of all. Price, a 16-year-old who graduated from the University of Chicago in June, will begin pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University this fall. His life is full of early achievements, including his claim that at age nine, he became the youngest person ever to earn a perfect score of 800 on the mathematics portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. "I can count on one hand the number of people I have seen at his level at this age," said Ted Chinburg, mathematics graduate group chairperson at the University, who will work with Price in the fall. "We are very lucky he chose to come to Penn." Not surprisingly, Price spent his summer vacation doing what most 16-year-olds would never fathom doing -- he conducted mathematical research for the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington, his mother said. Price, whose family is Greek, attended first grade at a private school. He then entered the public school's second grade -- and began studying from a seventh grade math textbook. The following year, Price did not find elementary school "sufficiently challenging" and left to attend a school for gifted students, his mother said. The next fall, when he was eight, he returned to public school, this time spending half of his time in the eighth grade and the other half as a high school freshman. Two years later he began taking math courses at the University of Chicago, where he enrolled as a full-time undergraduate at the ripe old age of 12. His mother said she did not pressure either of her sons to accelerate their academic careers, saying that they actually begged her for permission. Price's older brother Morgan graduated from the University of Chicago when he was 15. At the University, Price will live in an undergraduate house, according to Chinburg, so that he can pursue his graduate studies while living among students his own age. Chinburg added that Price has received a fellowship from the University, which includes full tuition and a stipend. Price's mother said her son chose the University because he was impressed with its academic program, its urban setting and the atmosphere. She said he liked the people he met here, particularly Chinburg. -- Stephen Glass