Many celebrities have taken the opportunity to share their knowledge with young people by teaching college courses. Some, like Spike Lee, have held on to their professor role for a number of years.
The classes taught by A-listers are typically a hot commodity, with seats filling up fast to learn from individuals who have found success in the entertainment space.
Take a look at four celebrities who have taught college classes and where they led instruction.
Spike Lee and Matthew McConaughey are just two examples of celebrities who have taught college courses. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images | Gary Miller/Getty Images)
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Oprah WinfreySpike LeeMatthew McConaugheyTyra Banks
1. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey co-taught a leadership class at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1999 and 2000.
The Dynamics of Leadership course was taught by Winfrey and her longtime partner, Stedman Graham. There were 110 students in the popular class.
Oprah Winfrey shared her expertise with students in the popular class she taught at Northwestern University. (John Salangsang/Variety via Getty Images)
Winfrey is widely known for her popular talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that ran from 1986 to 2011. She is also an actress who has held roles in movies, including “The Color Purple,” “Selma,” “Beloved” and “A Wrinkle in Time.”
She founded her own book club in 1996. She is also a published author in her own right, with books like “What I Know For Sure,” “The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose” and “What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing.”
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In 2013, Winfrey earned the high honor of being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
2. Spike Lee
Director Spike Lee has been a professor at New York University for many years.
He started as a professor at Harvard University in 1991, where he taught a course in filmmaking. Then, he joined the faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and began to teach a graduate class in 1993.
In 2002, he was named the school’s artistic director. Lee still teaches at NYU today. He leads a third-year class called Master Series: Directing Strategies, according to the university’s website.
Lee is a graduate of Morehouse College and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Spike Lee has been teaching at NYU Tisch School of the Arts since 1993. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Lee is an Oscar-winning director, with the 2018 movie “BlacKkKlansman.” Some of his most well-known work includes “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Jungle Fever” and “Malcolm X.”
3. Matthew McConaughey
Alright, alright, alright, it’s true, Matthew McConaughey was a college professor.
He taught at his alma mater, University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated in 1993. His course was part of the Moody College of Communication.
He co-taught the course, Script to Screen, starting in 2015 as a visiting instructor. He taught the course alongside lecturer and director Scott Rice, according to the University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication’s website. He officially became a professor in 2019.
In 2023, the actor returned to the school to teach a new version of his course focused on commercials, according to CBS.
Matthew McConaughey started teaching at the University of Texas in 2015. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
McConaughey is an Oscar-winning actor for the 2013 movie “Dallas Buyers Club.” He has worked in a variety of different genres over his years as an actor, including rom-coms with movies like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “Failure to Launch.” He has also held roles in movies like “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Interstellar.”
4. Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks’ career as a professor was a short one.
She was a guest lecturer in a class on personal branding in 2017 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The former Victoria’s Secret Angel has acted in a number of films and television shows, like “Coyote Ugly” and “Gossip Girl.” She’s also the creator of the reality show “America’s Next Top Model.”
Banks has more recently served as the host of competition shows, including “America’s Got Talent” and “Dancing with the Stars.”
Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.
