A unique group of achievers

Yidan Prize laureates

Here we include links to the work, and online resources of all Yidan Prize laureates.

We hope they inspire you as much as they inspire us.

The Yidan Prize Foundation extends heartfelt thanks to each laureate.

All prize types
All prize types
Yidan Prize for Education Research
Yidan Prize for Education Development
All prize years
All prize years
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG

Founder, BRAC

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG

Founder, BRAC

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG (April 1936 – December 2019) was the Founder of BRAC, one of the world’s largest NGOs. Viewing education as a catalyst for change, he passionately championed early childhood development and play-based learning. BRAC runs the largest secular private education system in the world, that has provided primary education to over 13 million children. His vision continues to inspire BRAC to alleviate poverty and create opportunities for people to realize their potential in 11 countries in Africa and Asia.


Background and achievements
Professor Anant Agarwal

Professor Anant Agarwal

Founder, edX

Professor Anant Agarwal

Founder, edX

Professor Anant Agarwal is the Founder of edX, the online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT. The platform aims to provide access to high quality education at scale, to learners around the world, regardless of geographic location, financial resources, prior academic qualifications, gender, race, or other demographics.


Background and achievements
Dr Rukmini Banerji

Dr Rukmini Banerji

CEO, Pratham Education Foundation

Dr Rukmini Banerji

CEO, Pratham Education Foundation

Dr Banerji’s work has been guided by Pratham’s mission of “every child in school and learning well”. Under her leadership, Pratham has focused on understanding and solving the problem of why children are in school, but not learning. Her team’s ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ (TaRL) program has been used by many India’s state governments to deal with the learning crisis. And the model is spreading to countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.


Background and achievements
Ms Vicky Colbert

Ms Vicky Colbert

Founder and Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva (FEN)

Ms Vicky Colbert

Founder and Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva (FEN)

Ms Vicky Colbert is founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva. The education model she espouses has benefited students in more than 20,000 rural schools in Colombia, and has been adopted in 19 countries.


Background and achievements
Dr Linda Darling-Hammond

Dr Linda Darling-Hammond

Professor Emerita, Stanford University; President, Learning Policy Institute

Dr Linda Darling-Hammond

Professor Emerita, Stanford University; President, Learning Policy Institute

Recognized internationally for her research on teaching and educator preparation, school redesign, and educational equity, Dr Linda Darling-Hammond has taken an active role in carrying this knowledge into the policy arena to expand educational opportunities at scale, especially for students who have been most underserved.


Background and achievements
Professor Carol S. Dweck

Professor Carol S. Dweck

Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University

Professor Carol S. Dweck

Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University

One of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation, Professor Carol S. Dweck is recognized for her work on the importance of mindsets.


Background and achievements
Professor Usha Goswami

Professor Usha Goswami

Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, University of Cambridge

Professor Usha Goswami

Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, University of Cambridge

Professor Usha Goswami is a world-leading researcher in the fields of literacy, neuroscience, and education. Her research has identified the importance of children’s awareness of linguistic rhythm patterns for their reading acquisition, and has also revealed the brain basis of rhythm perception, showing how this neural process is impaired in developmental dyslexia.


Background and achievements
Professor Eric A. Hanushek

Professor Eric A. Hanushek

Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution of Stanford University

Professor Eric A. Hanushek

Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution of Stanford University

A recognized leader in the economic analysis of education issues, Professor Eric Hanushek and his research have had broad influence on education policies in both developed and developing countries.


Background and achievements
Professor Larry Hedges

Professor Larry Hedges

Chairman of the Department of Statistics, Northwestern University

Professor Larry Hedges

Chairman of the Department of Statistics, Northwestern University

Professor Larry Hedges is one of the most influential applied statisticians in the world. His work in educational policy allows policymakers, educators and the general public to see the evidence for “what works” in the field of education, and makes it possible to take a scientific approach to improving education for future generations.


Background and achievements
Ms Lucy Lake

Ms Lucy Lake

Chair of the Executive, CAMFED

Ms Lucy Lake

Chair of the Executive, CAMFED

Ms Lucy Lake is the Chair of the Executive of CAMFED and has pioneered strategies to increase school retention and learning among marginalized girls, benefitting over six million young people.


Background and achievements
Ms Angeline Murimirwa

Ms Angeline Murimirwa

Chief Executive Officer, CAMFED

Ms Angeline Murimirwa

Chief Executive Officer, CAMFED

Ms Angeline Murimirwa is CAMFED's Chief Executive Officer. She is uniquely positioned to bring the expertise of young women once excluded from education to inform policy and strategy at every level.


Background and achievements
Professor Carl Wieman

Professor Carl Wieman

Professor of Physics & Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Professor Carl Wieman

Professor of Physics & Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Professor Carl Wieman is a pioneer of the use of new pedagogies in STEM education on college-level science teaching. His work has transformed the way STEM education is taught in major universities around the world.


Background and achievements
Professor Yongxin Zhu

Professor Yongxin Zhu

Founder, New Education Initiative (NEI)

Professor Yongxin Zhu

Founder, New Education Initiative (NEI)

Professor Yongxin Zhu’s New Education Initiative (NEI) puts reading, writing, and communication at the center of a collaborative approach to education that empowers teachers and transforms how students and families live and learn.


Background and achievements