Shai Reshef

Founder and President of University of the People (UoPeople). Founded on the belief that higher education is a basic human right, UoPeople is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American, accredited online university. Dedicated to opening access to higher education globally, UoPeople helps all qualified high school graduates overcome financial, geographic, political, and personal barriers to higher education. UoPeople currently serves 170,000 students from 213 countries and territories. Over 17,000 of these students are refugees. Reshef is widely recognized for his work with UoPeople. Among many international accolades, Reshef was awarded the 2023 Yidan Prize for Education Development, "the Nobel Prize of higher education". Reshef’s TED Talk and Nas Daily video about the University have over 30M views combined.