New Nobel-type prize planned for teaching

The Washington Post 27 April 2013

Entrepreneurs seeking to build an elite global university based on new ways of teaching online announced last Monday the creation of a US$500,000 prize to be awarded each year to an educator “whose innovations have led to extraordinary student learning experiences”, writes Nick Anderson for The Washington Post.

The prize, described as the largest of its kind for higher education, is part of the start-up of the for-profit Minerva Project, which aims to open an institution of higher education in the autumn of 2015. “Effectively it is a Nobel prize for teaching,” said Ben Nelson, Minerva’s founder and chief executive and former head of the online photo company Snapfish.

The San Francisco-based company has drawn notice for raising $25 million in venture capital and recruiting Lawrence H Summers, the former Treasury secretary and former president of Harvard University, to serve as chairman of its advisory board.
Full report on The Washington Post site

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