A year after Robin Williams' death, his son Zak is carrying on the comedian's legacy of humanitarian service.

The actor's oldest child is using his business education to teach prison inmates how to manage their finances after they're released.

Zak Williams, by his own estimate, could have coasted through life, riding on the wealth of his famous father. Instead, he wanted to "take pride and joy" in his work, using his MBA degree from Columbia to give something back.

To do that, the 32-year-old started teaching a finance class at California's San Quentin Prison last October.

Williams teaches the weekly course alongside one of the inmates, Curtis Carroll, whose prison nickname is "Wall Street" because he has studied stocks and predicts which ones will do well. Their course teaches inmates how to write resumes, look for a job, manage finances, and plan for retirement. Williams hopes to develop the program into one that will work outside prison, expanding it to low-income neighborhoods.

"It's not hard to be compassionate," Williams told TODAY.

Robin Williams once told a forum on Reddit: "My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings."

Photos: Eva Rinaldi, CC; and Twitter, @zakwilliams

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