Sal Khan

Salman Khan
Khan speaking at a TED conference in 2011
Native name	সালমান খান
Born	Salman Amin Khan October 11, 1976 Metairie, Louisiana, U.S.
Residence	Mountain View, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Sal
Ethnicity	Bengali
Alma mater	MIT (BS, MS) Harvard University (MBA)
Occupation	Teacher, Executive Director of Khan Academy, Founder of Khan Lab School, Board Member of Aspen Institute
Spouse(s)	Umaima Marvi
Parent(s)	Fakhrul Amin Khan Masuda Khan

Salman Amin "Sal" Khan (Bengali: সালমান খান, born October 11, 1976) is an American teacher, entrepreneur, and a former hedge fund analyst. He is the founder of the Khan Academy, a free online education platform and a 501(c)(3) organization with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, mainly focusing on mathematics and sciences.^[1]

As of April 2016, the Khan Academy channel on YouTube has more than 2.5 million subscribers and the Khan Academy videos have been viewed more than 788 million times.^[2] In 2012, Time named Salman Khan in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.^[3] Forbes magazine featured Khan on its cover with the story "$1 Trillion Opportunity."^[4]

Early life and education

Salman Khan was born in Metairie, Louisiana.^[5] His father, Dr Fakhrul Amin Khan, is from Barisal, Bangladesh, and his mother, Masuda Khan, is from Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. He and his elder sister were raised by his mother.

Khan attended the public school Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana, where, as he recalls, "a few classmates were fresh out of jail and others were bound for top universities."^[6] Khan was motivated even at a young age to help other people learn.

Khan attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science in 1998, later getting his Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science.^[7] Khan was class president in his senior year.^[8]

Khan also holds a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.^[9][10]

Career

In 2002, Khan was a summer intern at PARC. From 2003 to late 2009, Khan worked as a hedge fund analyst at Connective Capital Management.^[11][12][13]

Khan Academy

In late 2003, Khan began tutoring his cousin, Nadia, in mathematics over the internet using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad.^[14] When other relatives and friends sought his tutoring, he moved his tutorials to YouTube where he created an account on 16 November 2006.^[15]

The popularity of his educational videos on the video-sharing website and the testimonials of students prompted Khan to quit his job as a financial analyst in late 2009. After consulting his wife, telling her it was the "highest social return that one could ever get,"^[16] he moved his focus to developing his YouTube channel, Khan Academy, full-time with the aid of close friend Josh Gefner.^[11] Khan consequently received sponsorship from Ann Doerr, the wife of John Doerr.^[17]

His videos received worldwide interest from both students and non-students, with more than 458 million views in the first number of years.^[16]

Khan outlined his mission as to "accelerate learning for students of all ages. With this in mind, we want to share our content with whoever may find it useful." Khan plans to extend the "free school" to cover topics such as English. Khan's videos are also used to educate rural areas of Africa and Asia. Citing his personal response: "With so little effort on my own part, I can empower an unlimited amount of people for all time. I can't imagine a better use of my time."^[18]

Khan published a book about Khan Academy and education goals titled The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined.^[19]

Khan Academy, initially a tool for students, added the Coach feature in 2012, promoting the connection of teachers with students through videos and monitor tools. With such online success, Khan has added that "someone who wants to become an engineer or a doctor cannot ignore the current education system. They have to show up there and take exams."^[16]

Recognition

• Salman Khan has been featured on the The Colbert Report,^[12] PBS NewsHour,^[20][21][22] CNN,^[23] and National Public Radio.^[24] In 2009, Khan Academy received the Microsoft Tech Award for education.^[25] In September 2010, Google provided $2 million to support the creation of more courses and to enable Khan Academy to translate its core library into the world’s most widely spoken languages. Also near that time, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation provided Khan Academy with $1.5 million to help Khan Academy to grow as an organization.^[26][27] In October 2010, Khan was tied for #34 in Fortune's annual "40 under 40", a list recognizing business's hottest rising stars.
• In March 2011, Salman Khan was invited to speak at TED by Bill Gates who says he uses Khan Academy Exercise Software to teach his own children.^[28]
• On April 15, 2011, Salman Khan was interviewed by LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner.^[29]
• On June 2, 2011, Salman Khan appeared on The Colbert Report to talk in an interview about his teachings. He told the audience how he planned to use his software to revolutionize the field of education.^[30]
• Khan has also been interviewed by journalist Charlie Rose, appearing on Charlie Rose on May 4, 2011,^[31] and by news anchor Tom Brokaw.^[32]
• Salman Khan appeared at Stanford Graduate School of Business on February 21, 2012.^[33][34]
• On March 6, 2012, Salman Khan appeared at the University of California, Berkeley.^[35]
• Khan spoke at Bellarmine College Prep during TEDxSanJoseCA about the importance of education and the founding of Khan Academy. Khan was also the commencement speaker for Rice University's commencement exercises on May 12, 2012^[36] as well as MIT's commencement on June 8, 2012.^[7][37][38]
• Salman Khan appeared at the AtGoogleTalks with Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in 2012.^[39][40]
• Salman Khan has been interviewed by Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson at The Aspen Institute, fall of 2012.^[41] On August 3, 2013 Khan was interviewed with Henry Paulson at The Aspen Institute for the 20th Annual Summer Celebration.^[42]
• Salman Khan has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle,^[43] on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS),^[44] National Public Radio, CNN,^[45] and CNN Money.
• Salman Khan was featured as a "Big Thinker" on Edutopia discussing flip teaching.^[46]
• Salman Khan was interviewed by journalist Charlie Rose, appearing on Charlie Rose for the second time on February 26, 2013.^[47]
• Salman Khan appeared at the Adobe Digital Marketing Summit 2013 on March 7, 2013 in Salt Lake City.^[48]
• On March 21, 2013, Khan was presented the 2013 Posey Leadership Award at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science by Austin College (located in Sherman, Texas). Earlier that day, on a campus convocation featuring a lecture presented by Khan was given to the Austin College community. Khan also visited various student groups around the campus.^[49]
• Khan has been interviewed by MIT's president, Rafael Reif, appearing at MIT on 8 May 2013.^[50]
• Khan spoke at the University of New Orleans in New Orleans on May 20, 2013.^[51][52]
• On January 16, 2012, Khan was interviewed by Alison Beard, a senior editor at the Harvard Business Review, for their podcast HBR Ideacast where he spoke about the Online Learning Revolution.^[53]
• Khan was one of five individuals who recently won the prestigious 2014 Heinz Award. His award was in the area of "Human Condition." Khan was recognized for revolutionizing the way students can learn math, science and other subject areas.^[54]
• Beth Harris, John Green, and Hank Green are part of the Khan Academy community with him.
• Awarded Padma Shri in 2016 (India's fourth highest Civilian Award)

Personal life

Khan is married to Pakistani-American physician Umaima Marvi. The couple live with their children in Mountain View, California.^[55][56][57]

See also

• Jawed Karim
• Muhammad Yunus

References

1. Number of videos, Khan Academy.
2. "Khan academy". YouTube (channel). Google.
3. "Salman Khan – Time 100". Time. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
4. "$1 Trillion Opportunity". Forbes Magazine.
5. Sengupta, Somini (December 4, 2011). "Online Learning, Personalized". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
6. Sengupta, Somini (4 December 2011). "Khan Academy Blends Its YouTube Approach With Classrooms". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
7. Solomon, Ethan A. (6 December 2011). "Sal Khan Is Commencement Speaker". The Tech.
8. "MIT's Next Commencement Speaker Sal Khan Compares His Alma Mater to Hogwarts". Wired Academic. 7 December 2011.
9. Kaplan, David A. (Aug 24, 2010). "Innovation in Education: Bill Gates' favorite teacher". Money (CNN). Retrieved 2012-06-30.
10. "How Khan Academy Is Changing Education With Videos Made In A Closet – with Salman Khan". Mixergy. 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
11. Kowarski, Ilana (2010-06-06). "College 2.0: A Self-Appointed Teacher Runs a One-Man 'Academy' on YouTube – Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education". Chronicle.
12. Colbert, Stephen (Host) (2011). The Colbert Report. Colbert Nation. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
13. Khan, Sal. "Sal Khan". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
14. Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education. TED. 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
15. "Khan academy". YouTube. Google. 2006-11-16. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
16. Sen, Ashish Kumar (28 June 2010). "Bookmark: The Prof Who Keeps His Shirt On". Outlook India.
17. Bower, Amanda (16 December 2011). "Substitute teacher". The Australian.
18. Temple, James (2009-12-14). "Salman Khan, math master of the Internet – SFGate". Articles.sfgate.com. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
19. Khan, Salman ‘Sal’ (2012). Talking about his new book. AirTalk (radio interview) (Khan Adcademy). Retrieved 2012-12-29.
20. "Math Wiz Adds Web Tools to Take Education to New Limits". PBS. 2010-02-22. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
21. Michels, Spencer (2010-02-22). "Khan Academy: How to Calculate the Unemployment Rate". NewsHour. PBS. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
22. "Online Education Entrepreneur: Salman Khan » Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship". Ethics & entrepreneurship. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
23. CNN: Understanding the Crisis (YouTube). Khan academy. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
24. "Ex-Hedge Fund Analyst Finds Calling On YouTube". All Things Considered. NPR. 2009-12-28. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
25. "Laureate". Awards. The Tech. 2009. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
26. "Project 10 to the 100". Once upon a time. Google. 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
27. "How did Khan Academy get started?". Retrieved 2014-01-29.
28. Khan, Salman (March 2, 2011), Let's use video to reinvent education, TED, retrieved February 28, 2013.
29. "LinkedIn Speaker Series Salman Khan". 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
30. "Salman Khan". The Colbert Report. Colbert nation. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
31. "Salman Khan of Khan academy". Charlie Rose. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
32. Brokaw, Tom (2009-05-21). "Sal at Education Nation 2011". YouTube (interview). Google. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
33. "Khan Academy Founder Finds Simplicity Appeals in Online Education Experimentation". 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
34. "Rethinking Learning with Salman Khan". 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
35. "Salman Khan, Founder of Khan Academy". 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
36. "Commencement Speaker Chosen". The Rice Thresher. Rice University. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
37. "Sal Khan's Commencement address". MIT News. 8 June 2012.
38. Gill, Stan (13 June 2012). "Sal Khan gives a Commencement speech of love, empathy, and optimism". The Tech.
39. "Authors at Google: Salman Khan". 2012. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
40. "The World's Most Important Teacher: Google's Eric Schmidt On Salman Khan". 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
41. "Sal Khan discusses 'The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined'". 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
42. "http://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/2013/08/03/20th-annual-summer-celebration". 2013-08-03. Retrieved 2014-01-28. External link in |title= (help)
43. Temple, James (2009-12-14). "Salman Khan, math master of the Internet". sfgate.com. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
44. Michels, Spencer (2010-02-22). "Khan Academy: How to Calculate the Unemployment Rate". PBS NewsHour. PBS. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
45. "Salman Khan on CNN". YouTube. 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
46. "Salman Khan on Liberating the Classroom for Creativity". Edutopia. 30 September 2011.
47. "Salman Khan on Charlie Rose 2/26/2013". 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
48. "Sal Khan at Adobe Digital Marketing Summit 2013". 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
49. "2013 Posey Leadership Award". Austin College. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
50. "Sal Khan @ MIT". 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
51. "Reimagining Education with Sal Khan at the University of New Orleans". 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
52. "Reimagining Education with Sal Khan at the University of New Orleans". 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
53. HBR IdeaCast. "Salman Khan on the Online Learning Revolution". HBR Blog Network. Harvard Business Review.
54. "The Heinz Awards: Salman Khan". The Heinz Awards.
55. "Education 2.0: The Khan Academy". Dawn (newspaper). 26 April 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
56. "Meet Sal Khan, Khan Academy". jointventure.org. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
57. "Salman Khan - Educator". Biography. Retrieved 2015-08-28.

External links

• Khan Academy (Web site)
• Sal Khan at TED
• Appearances on C-SPAN