What is this academic ‘connection’?  You may well be asking…

It began with Gregory Smith and Oprah Winfrey!

I first noticed this young Caucasian warrior – Gregory Smith in 1999, at 9 years of age he was being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and I was fascinated by his intellectual prowess.  It was an effort for him to sit still.  His feet dangled restlessly sitting on Oprah’s couch.  He seemed like any other kid his age except that Greg was completing his freshman year at Randolph-Macon College and his IQ was already so high, it could not be quantified.

“THEY ARE ALL INTOLERANT TOWARDS RELIGION”

Since turning 12 years-of-age Greg is seeking a voice in world affairs. He has started IYA – International Youth Advocates, an organization espousing children’s rights. He’s raising money to build a school in Rwanda, bring computers and educational supplies to Kenya and cleanse drinking water in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Now that I’m 14 years old I’m focusing on younger children because they’re the future, they’re the ones who have not been corrupted by society. They’re the ones who still have pure minds.”

Among Greg’s close mentors are two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Betty Williams of Ireland.  At 16 years-of-age he has an urgent game plan and he understands the media plays a vital role;

“I want to use my age to my advantage while I can and while there’s so much attention being given to me while I’m going to college. I know if I work as hard as I can to build my base now, it will make my work in the future easier.”

“THEY ALL HAVE VERY HIGH MORALS”

At the age of 18, Gregory Smith already has a career as a motivational speaker and as a world-recognized advocate for children and peace.  He is a two-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and has appeared on numerous television shows, including Sixty Minutes, The Oprah Show, and Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Morning Show, Voice of America,CNN and all the major network morning news shows.

He has met with Presidents, Nobel Peace Laureates, religious leaders and educators such as former President Bill Clinton and former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and Nobel Peace Laureates:  East Timor’s Jose Ramos-Horta (Plus Ireland’s Betty Williams and South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu), affording  the opportunity to describe his educational and peace plan.   He was a CCF delegate to the UN Special Session on the Rights of the Child.  He has appeared before the Security Council of the U.N., Florida and Virginia General Assemblies and the State of the World Forum to build a network of individuals and organizations willing to support his cause. 

Through all of his many appearances, Greg appeals to governmental leaders to value their children as their country’s greatest resource.  He teaches about ending the cycle of violence and has pledged his life to the pursuit of peace.

*His current dream for personal achievement is to become the youngest President of America… ever!

“THEY SHARE THE HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE”

Greg at 21 years-old… had two masters’ degrees and was already studying for his first PhD at Carnegie Mellon University. Shortly afterwards he will have two PhD’s and be studying for his third.

What is this academic ‘connection’?  You may still be asking…

During that very first interview in 1999 Oprah was telling her global audience about how good – with tongue in cheek – it might be if Gregory Smith was already the youngest ever President of the United States.  Then she went on to say how since she had spent several years working with Greg, she had come in contact with many of these specially gifted children.

She found it extremely interesting that they all – without exception – they all had three things in common, ‘Bob Jones’, I thought I heard Oprah say my name firmly to be sure I was listening to what she was about to say.  Now I’m sure not one other person amongst her 55 million global audience heard Oprah say my name on that fateful day, ‘BUT’ she had certainly attracted my undivided attention, now equally as important…

‘Have I got your undivided attention?’ Oprah continued to tell me the first thing they had in common was that;

“THEY ARE ALL INTOLERANT TOWARDS RELIGION”

With my attitude to religion,  I’m sure you can imagine this had me sitting upright and forward right on the edge of my chair – how about you, my favorite reader?

“THEY ALL HAVE VERY HIGH MORALS”

I found this extremely pleasing as I identified the smart youth of the world does not need religion to have strong morals.  Now for the third thing they all have in common, the cameraman drew in on Oprah’s face, so close you could see only the white’s of her eyes, her broad nose and the bright red lips that were about to speak. 

Then came that Oprah look, the Winfrey passion that the world loves her for.  Her eyes suddenly became eerily hypnotic, her nostrils flared defining declaration as those bright red lips expressed the following statement with remorse;

“THEY SHARE THE HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE”

They see the state of the world they have been born into and simply can’t cope that us older generation got it all so wrong.  Not the Greg Smith’s, they know they can make a difference.  One more time Oprah’s eyes became eerily hypnotic, nostrils flared again and those bright red lips asked me specifically;

‘Well Bob Jones, what do you plan to do about this situation?’

Now you can all see the academic ‘connection’ to what I call the New Millennium Youth Movement… the message is loud and clear here as I introduce you to these young Homo evolutis.

Gregory Smith today – He has been put up for Nobel Peace Prize nomination four times. While he has not won the award yet there is no need for him to worry, he’s still young – he just turned 25 – did I mention he recently won $1,000,000 in ‘WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?’

*Where are they today?

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

GREG SMITH with OPRAH WINFREY

While most kids his age were memorizing their multiplication tables, Greg Smith was mastering calculus. Labeled a “boy genius,” Greg’s remarkable intelligence attracted considerable media attention when he was still quite young. Before he turned 11, Greg was interviewed on 60 Minutes, Late Show with David Letterman and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The attention, Greg tells Oprah: Where Are They Now?, could be overwhelming. “It was crazy,” Greg says. “There would be people that would recognize me everywhere.”

Here, Greg opens up about the whirlwind life of a young person with a brilliant mind and how the media gave his voice an international platform.