| Biography: |
| Salman
Amin 'Sal' Khan is an American educator and the founder of the Khan
Academy, a free online education platform and nonprofit organization.
From a small office in his home, Khan has produced over 3000 videos
elucidating a wide spectrum of academic subjects, mainly focusing on
mathematics and the sciences. As of March 2012, the Khan Academy channel
on YouTube has attracted more than 300,000 subscribers. In 2012,
American magazine Time named Salman Khan in its annual list of the 100
most influential people in the world: Time 100. |
| Khan
was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was from Barisal,
Bangladesh. He was raised by his mother in New Orleans, where she had a
series of jobs and businesses. He went to public schools, where, as he
recalls, "a few classmates were fresh out of jail and others were bound
for top universities". Salman Khan holds three degrees from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a BS in mathematics, in
electrical engineering and computer science as well MS' in electrical
engineering and computer science. He also holds an MBA from Harvard
Business School. |
| Salman Khan worked as a hedge fund analyst before quitting in late 2009. |
| In
late 2004, Khan began tutoring his cousin, Nadia, in mathematics over
the internet using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad. When other relatives and
friends sought his tutoring, he decided it would be more practical and
beneficial to distribute the tutorials on YouTube where he created an
account on 16 November 2006. Their popularity on the video sharing
website and the testimonials of appreciative students prompted Khan to
quit his job as a hedge fund analyst in late 2009 to focus on developing
his YouTube channel, 'Khan Academy', full-time. |
| His
videos attracted on average more than 20,000 hits each. Students from
around the world have been attracted to Khan's concise, practical, and
relaxed teaching method. |
| 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 also plans to extend his "free school" to cover
topics such as English and history. Programs are being undertaken to use
Khan's videos to teach those in isolated areas of Africa and Asia. He
delineated his motives: |
| 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. |
| Salman
Khan has been featured on the The Colbert Report, PBS NewsHour, CNN,
and National Public Radio. In 2009, the Khan Academy received the
Microsoft Tech Award for education. In 2010, Google provided $2 million
to support the creation of more courses and to enable the Khan Academy
to translate its core library into the world's most widely spoken
languages. 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
claims to use the Khan Academy Exercise Software to teach his own
children. In May 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.
Included in his interview was a montage of notable teaching moments from
Khan's YouTube channel. |
| Khan has also been interviewed by journalist Charlie Rose, and news anchor Tom Brokaw. |
| Khan
spoke at Bellarmine College Prep during TEDxSanJoseCA about the
importance of education and the founding of Khan Academy. Khan is also
scheduled to be the commencement speaker for Rice University's
commencement exercises on May 12, 2012 as well as MIT's commencement on
June 8, 2012. |
| He
lives with his wife, who is a medical specialist in rheumatology and
internal medicine, and their son and daughter in Mountain View,
California. |
|
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Khan_(educator) |
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