This is an accepted version of this page
Salman Khan | |
|---|---|
 Khan speaking at aTED conference in 2011 | |
| Born | Salman Amin Khan (1976-10-11)October 11, 1976 (age 49) Metairie, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
|
| Title |
|
| Board member of | Aspen Institute |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Abdul Wahab Khan (grandfather) |
Salman Amin Khan (born October 11, 1976) is an American educator and the founder ofKhan Academy, a free online non-profit educational platform with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, originally focusing on mathematics and science.[1] He is also the founder ofKhan Lab School, a private, in-person school inMountain View, California.[2]
As of January 2026[update], the Khan Academy channel on YouTube has 9.27 million subscribers, and its videos have been viewed more than two billion times.[3] In 2012, Khan was named in the annual publication ofTime 100.[4] In the same year, he was featured on the cover ofForbes, with the tagline "The $1 Trillion Opportunity."[5]
Khan was born inMetairie, Louisiana, on October 11, 1976, into aBengali Muslim family.[6] His father Fakhrul Amin Khan (d. 1990) was a physician,[7][8] originally hailing from the village ofRahmatpur inBabuganj Upazila,Bangladesh while his mother Masuda Khan is fromMurshidabad,West Bengal,India.[6][9] Khan says that he grew up in a state of financial difficulty, recalling that his mother made $16,000 in 1993—he knew this because he had to do her taxes to get financial aid.[10] They are descendants of Rahmat Khan, a 16th-century chieftain ofPashtun origin, who was killed in battle with Kandarpanarayan Rai, the erstwhileRaja ofChandradwip.[11] Khan's grandfatherAbdul Wahab Khan was a prominent Bengali politician who served as Pakistan's third officialSpeaker of the National Assembly.
Khan attendedGrace King High School, where, as he recalls, "a few classmates were fresh out of jail and others were bound for top universities."[12] He was acartoonist for the high school's newspaper.[13] Khan took mathematics courses at theUniversity of New Orleans while he was in high school and graduated asvaledictorian in 1994.[14][15]
He attended theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating in 1998 with a double majorBachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Mathematics as well as aMaster of Engineering degree, also in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.[16][17][18] In 2012, Khan was the youngest commencement speaker at his alma mater in 30 years.[16][19]
Khan also holds aMaster of Business Administration fromHarvard Business School, graduating in 2003.[16][20]
In 2002, Khan was a summerintern atXerox PARC. From 2003 to late 2009, he worked as ahedge fund analyst at Connective Capital Management.[21]
In 2004, Khan started tutoring his cousin, Nadia, inmathematics over the internet usingYahoo!'s Doodle notepad.[22] When other relatives and friends sought his tutoring, he founded Khan Academy in 2006 and moved his tutorials toYouTube, where he created an account on November 16, 2006.[21]
The popularity of his educational videos prompted Khan to quit his job as a financial analyst in 2009.[16] He shifted his focus to developing hisYouTube channel, Khan Academy, full-time with the aid of close friend Josh Gefner.[21] In 2010, Khan's freshman-year roommate at MIT, Shantanu Sinhal, was appointed as Khan Academy’s president.[16] Khan subsequently received sponsorship from Ann Doerr, the wife ofJohn Doerr.[23]
Khan outlined his mission: 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 believes that supplementing traditional classroom education with the technology being developed by his Academy can improve the effectiveness of teachers by freeing them from traditional lectures and giving them more time for instruction specific to individual students' needs.[24] In 2009, Khan planned to extend the "free school" to cover topics such asEnglish literature.[24]
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.[12] In 2015, Khan announced that Khan Academy was partnering with theCollege Board to create free practice resources for theSAT test.[25]
Khan published a book about Khan Academy and education goals titledThe One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined.[26] In 2023, Khan Academy has more than 155 million registered users, with students spending billions of hours of learning on the platform.[27]
Stanford AI researcherAndrew Ng has named Khan as an inspiration for the founding ofCoursera, one of the firstmassive open online course (MOOC) platforms.[28]
Khan's pedagogical idea is that students learn better when they can manage the process of acquiring knowledge independently and at their own pace. They should then work in teams to apply the knowledge they have learned. This concept is known asflipped classroom.[29] His approach to learning incorporates elements ofBenjamin Bloom'smastery learning.[30] This learning method is tested at his Khan Lab School, founded in 2014.[31]
In early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Khan launched Schoolhouse, a free non-profit initiative to provide small-group tutoring for students worldwide throughZoom meetings. Schoolhouse certifications, developed in partnership with theUniversity of Chicago, test students’ mastery of subjects and certify their knowledge.MIT,Caltech, andCase Western Reserve University have since signed on.[32]
In October 2025,TED announced Khan would become its new "Vision Steward", succeedingChris Anderson. Khan’s role involves advising on TED’s long-term direction in education and technology.[33]
In 2012, Khan received theAmerican Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award for public service.[34][35] In 2014, Khan received the 19th AnnualHeinz Award in the Human Condition category.[30]
In 2016, Khan received the fourth-highest civilian award of theRepublic of India, thePadma Shri, from thePresident of India.[36]On May 27, 2021, Khan received an honoraryDoctor of Laws degree fromHarvard University.[37]
In 2010, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation became one of the academy's biggest supporters.[38] In 2012 Khan was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in the world (Time 100).[39] Bill Gates has said; "I've used Khan Academy with my kids, and I'm amazed at the breadth of Sal's subject expertise and his ability to make complicated topics understandable."[40]
Khan is married to physician Umaima Marvi. The couple live with their children inMountain View, California.[41][6] Khan's first child, a son, suffered from childhood epilepsy, which he later outgrew, but the experience had lasting effects for the family to realize what was important in life.[42]
Khan has said about his beliefs:
"If you believe in trying to make the best of the finite number of years we have on this planet (while not making it any worse for anyone else), think that pride and self-righteousness are the cause of most conflict and negativity, and are humbled by the vastness and mystery of the Universe, then I'm the same religion as you."[43]
Khan played the guitar during his childhood.
Salman Khan, pioneer of online education, receives the Gold Medal from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
