Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis who is a 12-year-old graduating from the University of Ottawa’s biomedical science program takes part in an interview with The Canadian Press at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa on June 2, 2023.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis has become the youngest person in Canadian history to graduate from university.
The 12-year-old accepted her University of Ottawa diploma for a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science at a convocation ceremony Saturday evening.
Patricia Dennis started her university studies when she was nine years old.
She completed a 40-page thesis about the relationship between the brain and the hand for right-handed versus left-handed people.
Her mother Johanna Dennis said she knew her daughter was special when she was about two-and-a-half years old.
The not-yet-teenager is looking to attend postgraduate school next.
She told The Canadian Press in an interview that she’s excited to get her own lab and work with others on her research about the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for co-ordinating balance and movement.
“I can now call myself a researcher,” she said. “I feel like the master of the cerebellum.”