University of the People founder and Arizona State professor win Yidan Prize for education work

By GLENN GAMBOA
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Shai Reshef, president and founder of the online, tuition-free University of the People, and Arizona State professor and researcher Michelene Chi, who has developed a framework to improve how students learn, are the 2023 winners of The Yidan Prize, the biggest award in education. Reshef and Chi will each receive 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.9 million) from The Hong Kong-based Yidan Prize Foundation, as well as another 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.9 million) in unrestricted funds to further their work, the foundation announced Wednesday. Edward Ma, the Yidan Prize Foundation’s secretary-general, said the new Yidan laureates will join previous winners to work together to improve education on both the local and global level.