Robert Thurman

Robert A.F. Thurman, PhD, was one of the world’s foremost scholars of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and a pioneering voice for bringing Buddhist philosophy into everyday life. He was Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and the co-founder and president of Tibet House US and its Menla Retreat & Spa, as well as a prolific translator and author of widely read books on Buddhism, philosophy, and the Dalai Lama. Named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans and honored with India’s Padma Shri award for his contribution to education and literature, Thurman was known for making complex ideas vivid and accessible, combining rigorous scholarship with humor, moral clarity, and a lifelong commitment to reason, peace, and compassion.