I have some tremendously exciting news to share with you.
I have been awarded the 2023 Yidan Prize for Education Development, the world’s highest education accolade, referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Education.” The award recognizes UoPeople’s mission to open the gates of higher education to all qualified students globally.
The Yidan Prize honors change-makers in education research and development. Prize winners receive a gold medal and approximately $3.8 million, half of which is an unrestricted project fund to support the scaling of their work, and the other half is a cash prize, which I plan to donate to UoPeople. I intend to use the funds to advocate for the transformation of higher education, making it a fundamental right for all rather than a privilege for a select few.
The Yidan Foundation also awarded Arizona State University Professor Michelene Chi the 2023 Yidan Prize for Education Research. Professor Chi and I will join the Foundation’s exclusive global community of education innovators.
I am extremely honored to receive the 2023 Yidan Prize for my work toward making higher education accessible, affordable, and of the highest quality by developing a scalable model to empower marginalized communities worldwide. Moreover, it acknowledges the 15 years of hard work I have dedicated to building UoPeople.
An Associated Press story about the Yidan Prize has been picked up by over 200 media outlets worldwide, including The Washington Post, Yahoo News, ABC News, U.S. News & World Report and The Independent. You can read these stories below.
