Alumni leading the field

Harvard and other leading university alumni who are transforming the study and practice of Buddhism around the world

Plus, Harvard hosts a plethora of speakers who are internationally renowned, for example, in Tibetan Buddhism, these spiritual leaders have all been invited to speak publicly on campus in the past:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama , Nobel laureate and renowned spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism

His Holiness the Karmapa , head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism

Venerable Matthieu Ricard , French PhD biochemist from the Pasteur Institute dubbed “the world’s happiest man”

Venerable Thubten Chodron , UCLA grad and prominent American Buddhist nun

and more…

Buddhist Practices

Harvard University faculty and students are leaders in the history and academic study of Buddhism - such as through Harvard’s Buddhist Studies program through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with collaborations with the Departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, and South Asian Studies; or the Buddhist Ministry and chaplaincy programs through the Harvard Divinity School; or the East Asian Art Program at the Sackler and Harvard Art Museums.

But did you know, lay and monastic Harvard graduates are also leaders in meditation groups and Buddhist practices? Harvard alumni are founders and leaders of major Buddhist organizations: Robert Thurman (Harvard A.B., M.A., Ph.D.) with Tibet House US; Alexander Berzin (Harvard M.A., Ph.D.) with the Berzin Archives now StudyBuddhism.com, and more! Harvard alumni founded interfaith initiatives such as Harvard’s Pluralism Project, the US & Canada Chinese Buddhist temple directory at SFZen.org, community collaboration in the South at AtlantaBuddhism.org, and other groups. Other eminent Buddhist associations are led by alumni from other top universities - the Woodenfish Foundation for Chinese Buddhism is led by a Yale graduate, the Buddhist Text Translation Society and Dharma Realm Buddhist University count Stanford alum in their leadership, and so forth…