Khan Academy founder Salman Khan
Image: Khan Academy
Salman Khan has a mission: make education easy, available and free to everyone. Since starting Khan Academy, Salman Khan and helped thousands across the globe further their education in math and science, all the way from elementary school kids to adults who haven’t stepped foot in a classroom in 30 years.
Khan began his career as a financial analyst after earning three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 2004 his young cousin asked him to tutor her in math, and what started out as a favor turned into an educational revolution. As friends and family across the country began asking for help in math, Khan decided that the best way to teach was to broadcast lessons on YouTube.
The popularity of his videos skyrocketed, leading him to quit his job as a financial analyst in 2009 and found Khan Academy with a blessing from his wife and help from his friend and founding partner Josh Gefner. Within a few short years Khan Academy received more than 355 million views across the world, and Khan Academy now offers lessons on science, computer programming and humanities. Teachers across the U.S. are even using it in their classrooms, and the Teacher/Student functions allow both to monitor the students’ progress.
Salman Khan went from a career in finance to making a difference in the world of education. Calling his website the “highest social return that one could ever get,” Khan’s life as a philanthropist and worldwide educator led him to named one of “The World’s Most Influential People” by Time Magazine in 2012. As Khan Academy continues to grow in success, Salman Khan’s influence in education will only grow stronger.
