Dante Apollo Atkins ’03

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Dante Apollo Atkins first became known to the professors of the classics department by attending public departmental lectures and asking probing questions of distinguished speakers. Assuming that he was a precocious graduate student from another department, the professors were shocked to learn that he was only 15 years old.

Homeschooled by his father in a liberal arts education that emphasized the study of classical languages, Atkins is on track to finish his B.A. in Greek and Latin with every honor UCLA offers. In a Latin graduate course, Atkins had the highest average of the 11 graduate students in the class. Ranking second in the class was his equally accomplished brother, David. Having taken graduate courses in Old Irish, Celtic, Gothic, Old High German and Sanskrit, Atkins will undoubtedly claim his Ph.D. before the age of 25.

As outreach director for the Regents Scholar Society, Atkins encourages the country’s top high school graduates who have been accepted by UCLA to attend UCLA, and his efforts have resulted in a record yield of regents scholars selecting this university. Atkins is director of the UCLA Classical Society. He is the co-founder and co-director (along with his brother) of the Society for Indo-European Studies. He received the 2002 Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Award, which recognizes academic achievement and community involvement and is the highest honor given by the College of Letters and Sciences to an undergraduate. Atkins is also a clarinetist with a band that gives free performances at retirement communities.