Monday, Harvard Business School finally unveiled the long-awaited announcement of who would give the keynote address for the Class of 2014 Class Day ceremony.
Former HBS graduate and founder of Khan Academy, Sal Khan, will once again tread the trails that wind through campus to enlighten and send off a new set of graduates looking for inspiration.
Courtesy of Twitter, Harvard Business School left a trail of crumbs over the course of one day, leaving graduates puzzled and curious at the same time.
Former Class Day speakers include Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in 2013 and former CEO of Time Inc., Ann Moore, in 2012.
In the same year Sandberg gave her send off to HBS grads, Khan was just next door giving his commencement speech at MIT, from where he holds three degrees.
One clue-filled tweet to the grads linked Khan to Justin Beiber, in a connection that may leave many scratching their heads. Turns out both are YouTube celebrities, but Beiber certainly comes nowhere close to Khan’s ranking of importance.
With an MBA from Harvard, a BS in Computer Science, a BS in Electrical Engineering, and an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, there is no doubt Khan will have much to offer in terms of stories to share as previous dweller of Boston and an alumni.
What will interest most is what he did with his explosive education. A strong advocate of online education, Khan has taken what started off as help for a cousin and turned it into a revolutionary way to educate.
He left his job as a hedge fund analyst to start Khan Academy, which is now teeming with an offering of nearly 5,000 videos that cover topics from math, physics, and finance to history and art.
His site has partnered with big names like Stanford School of Medicine and the Museum of Modern Art. Bringing the world to everyone around the world, so all can share in the same level of discovery and experiences.
He is a huge proponent of providing “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere,” by making its resources available universally.
With so many interesting experiences, he will most definitely give a speech that inspires like no other. Based on his commencement speech at MIT, he is sure to give HBS grads something to think about. Especially since many online schools that offer laptops are widely available.
Words of wisdom he imparted to MIT’s 2012 graduating class included:
“Make people feel that you are listening to them. Another little secret: The best way to do this is to actually listen.
“Replace the words ‘I have to’ with ‘I get to’ in your vocabulary. Smile with your mouth, your eyes, your ears, your face, your body, at every living thing you see.
“Make people feel that you care about them. And here’s ... a little secret: The best way to do this is to actually care about them."
Words that inspire and bring meaning to anyone’s actions, whether you graduate from MIT, Harvard, or anywhere else.