Khan Academy Founder Will Be HBS Class Day Speaker

Sal Kahn, HBS 2003 alum and founder of the Kahn Academy

Harvard Business School yesterday (March 31) announced that Khan Academy Founder Salman (Sal) Khan will give the Class Day keynote address to the Class of 2014 on Wed., May 28, as part of a student-led ceremony held the day before Harvard University’s Commencement exercises.

Khan, who graduated with his MBA from HBS in 2003, is founder and executive director of Khan Academy, a not-for-profit organization that provides online videos on a wide array of subjects to students and other learners of all ages around the globe.

In 2004, Khan began tutoring his young cousin in math while communicating by phone and using an interactive notepad. He then created software to give his cousins practice problems and feedback. To complement this software, he also began posting videos of his hand-scribbled tutorials on YouTube. When demand took off in 2009, he quit his job at a hedge fund to commit himself fully to launching his new educational venture.

With over 10 million unique student visitors per month, the Khan Academy website now provides a self-pacing, guided learning experience, with more than 100,000 practice exercises and 5,000 instructional videos covering everything from basic arithmetic to college-level science and economics.

The HBS Class Day program will also include a welcome from the co-presidents of the MBA Class of 2014, the presentation of faculty teaching awards, and an address by a student speaker. The program is open to members of the graduating class, their guests, HBS alumni, faculty, and staff.