Elliott Tanner is passionate for theoretical and experimental physics, math, and computer programming. He started his full-time college career at the age of 9 and is currently a first year physics PhD student at the University of Minnesota to further study High Energy Theoretical Physics. .

In May, 2020 Elliott graduated college at 11 years old with a Associate of Science degree in Mathematics with high honors (4.0GPA). He graduated at the University of Minnesota - College of Science and Engineering with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Minor in Mathematics in May, 2022 at 13 years old. 

"Physics holds power to describe the physical world. It is stunning to me that physics can describe everything from the way rays of cosmic particles shower in the atmosphere to the way galaxies perform their cosmic dance. Physics is omnipresent in my day-to-day life. My particular interest in particle physics began as a 6-year-old child watching the documentary, Particle Fever. It was intriguing to watch the physicists try to determine the mass of the Higgs and how that would shape the fate of particle physics in the future. My passion for physics stems from how the subject acts as a carrier for mathematics without the subject being bogged down by how formalized it is (i.e. having to consider non-physical states). Physics is more intuition-based and as a result inspires my interest in pursuing a graduate level education in physics."

GO FUND ME

Elliott's acceptance into the PhD program at the University of Minnesota did not come with a financial package or tuition waiver. We have started a Go Fund Me to help raise funds for the cost of tuition for his PhD program which is roughly $90,000. (We do understand that 97% of physics PhD programs come with a minimum of a tuition waiver, however Elliott's did not.) More information can be found on the Go Fund Me site. Thank you all for contributing and sharing his story! https://gofund.me/f6030c02