Shai Reshef

Shai Reshef (Hebrew: שי רשף‎) is an American businessperson and academic administrator. He is the founder and president of University of the People.

Shai Reshef
שי רשף
President of University of the People
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Spouse(s)	Rotem Reshef
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Michigan (MA)
Occupation	Businessperson, academic administrator

Early life and education

Reshef earned an M.A. in Chinese Politics from the University of Michigan.[1]

Career

From 1989 to 2005, Reshef served as Chief Executive Officer and then Chairman of the Kidum Group, a for-profit educational services and test preparation company.[2] Reshef joined Kidum in 1989 when it was a single product company with revenues of $100,000. Under his leadership, Kidum grew to become a company with annual revenues in excess of $25 million, with over 1,000 employees and 50,000 students a year. In 2005, he sold the company to Kaplan, Inc.[3]

Between 2001 and 2004, while continuing as the chairman of Kidum, Reshef lived in the Netherlands where he chaired KIT eLearning, a subsidiary of Kidum. KIT became the eLearning partner of the University of Liverpool in 1999, and was the first online university outside of the United States, providing MBA and M.Sc. degrees in Information Technology. In 2004, the company was acquired by Laureate Education, Inc. and changed its name to Laureate Online Education. It maintains its partnership with the University of Liverpool under its new name.[4]

University of the People

In January 2009, Reshef founded the University of the People (UoPeople), a non-profit, accredited online academic institution that seeks to increase the availability of higher education by offering tuition-free degrees.[5] He serves as the institution's president.[6]

In his 2014 TED Talk, entitled "An ultra-low-cost college degree", Reshef shared his vision to democratize knowledge. He views higher education as a human right. His TED Talk has been viewed over four million times as of 2017.[7]

Personal life

Reshef is married to painter Rotem Reshef and has four children.[1]

Awards and honors

• In 2009, named one of Fast Company magazine's “100 Most Creative People in Business"
• In 2009, selected by OneWorld as one of its "People of 2009"[8]
• In 2010, awarded a fellowship by Ashoka[9]
• In 2010, became a high-level adviser to the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) [10]
• In 2010, rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq in New York City[11]
• In 2010, granted membership to the Clinton Global Initiative on behalf of his work with UoPeople in Haiti[12]
• In 2010, selected as the Huffington Post "Ultimate Game Changer in Education."[13]
• In 2011, granted membership to Partners for a New Beginning (PNB)[14]
• In 2012, named one of the "50 People Changing the World" by Wired magazine's Smart List 2012[15]
• In 2012, named as a "Top Global Thinker" by Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers 2012[16]
• In 2015, placed eighth on Salt Magazine's "100 Most Compassionate Business Leaders List"[17]
• In 2016, awarded the Prince's Prize for Innovative Philanthropy by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation [18]

References

1. Wiener, Julie (2013-01-08). "An Israeli 'Citizen Of The World'". The New York Jewish Week. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
2. Lewin, Tamar (January 25, 2009). "Israeli Entrepreneur Plans a Free Global University That Will Be Online Only". The New York Times.
3. "Kaplan to Acquire Kidum, the leading provider of test preparation in Israel" (Press release). Kaplan, Inc. August 3, 2005. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
4. Laureate Online Education and K.I.T. eLearning B.V., the eLearning partner of the University of Liverpool, announce name change. (press release) November 2004. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
5. Israeli Entrepreneur Plans a Free Global University That Will Be Online Only. New York Times. January 26, 2009
6. "University of the People – The world's first tuition-free online university". uopeople.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
7. Umoh, Ruth (2017-09-18). "Here's how you can score a tuition-free MBA". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
8. People of 2009: Shai Reshef OneWorld.Net
9. Ashoka.com
10. UN announces launch of world's first tuition-free, online university May 19, 2009
11. Representative From University of the People to Ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell August 17, 2010
12. Clinton Global Initiative Advances University of the People Pledge to Democratize Higher Education in Haiti September 10, 2010
13. Who Is The Ultimate Game Changer In Education? Huffington Post September 15, 2010
14. PNB Announcements at Washington Summit May 31, 2011
15. The Smart List 2012: 50 people who will change the world Wired Magazine, January 24, 2012
16. The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers Archived 2014-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Foreign Policy Magazine, December 2012
17. 100 Most Compassionate Business Leaders: #8 Shai Reshef
18. Prince's Prize for Innovative Philanthropy 2016

External links

• Profile at University of the People
• Shai Reshef at TED