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Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle – Image 2 of 17 Salman Khan reacts at his table after being awarded the San Francisco Chronicle VisionSF Visionary of the Year Award at the War Memorial Veterans Building in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, March 27, 2018.
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https://www.sfchronicle.com/visionsf/article/Khan-Academy-founder-wins-2018-Visionary-of-the-12786666.php
March 27, 2018 Updated: March 27, 2018 10:38pm
When Salman Khan began posting videos on YouTube more than a decade ago, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur had no idea of the celebrity he would gain, nor the impact he would have.
His online tutorials in math, with their encouraging counsel informed by degrees from Harvard and MIT, were made for friends and family struggling in school. But his audience quickly grew. Before long, Khan had quit his day job in finance to carry out a goal of delivering free Internet instruction to the world. His educational website was called Khan Academy.
On Tuesday night, Khan, 41, was presented the fourth annual Visionary of the Year Award, an honor announced by The San Francisco Chronicle at a gala at the War Memorial Veterans Building.
The award recognizes individuals who use their business savvy and entrepreneurship for social benefit. It carries a $25,000 grant from The Chronicle that can be applied to the cause of Khan’s choice.
Khan Academy today has more than 62 million registered users in nearly 200 countries. His voice, which still narrates many of the tutorials, is widely recognized, and students and parents often stop him on the street to thank him for providing an assist at school or work.
“As I tell everyone, this is just something I fell into,” he said as he accepted the award and recounted helping his cousin Nadia with her school work years ago.
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San Francisco Chronicle: Sal Khan creates online academy to educate anyone in world for free
