Senior Scholar Award

Recognizing Excellence in Public Scholarship on Religion

Each spring, the Boniuk Institute hosts a senior scholar for a fellowship and award. Awardees have made outstanding scholarly contributions to the public understanding of religion broadly as well as pluralism and tolerance. Award winners are invited to the Institute to participate in a variety of programs and give a public lecture followed by a reception in their honor.

INTRODUCING THE 2027 BONIUK INSTITUTE SENIOR SCHOLAR

Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D. is the Founder and Chairman of Compassion Institute, and the principal author of Compassion Cultivation Training, the Institute's flagship compassion education offering, developed while Jinpa was at Stanford University.

Jinpa trained as a monk at the Shartse College of Ganden Monastic University, South India, where he received the Geshe Lharam degree. Jinpa also holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Ph.D. in religious studies, both from Cambridge University.

Jinpa has been the principal English translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama since 1985, and has translated and collaborated on numerous books by the Dalai Lama including the New York Times Bestsellers Ethics for the New Millennium and The Art of Happiness, as well as Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. His own publications include A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives and translations of major Tibetan works featured in The Library of Tibetan Classics series.

A frequent speaker at various international conferences on mindfulness, compassion, and contemplative practice, Jinpa also serves as an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal and is the founder and president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics. He has been a core member of the Mind and Life Institute and served as its Chair of the Board for fourteen years (2011-2025).

Watch remarks by the 2026 Boniuk Institute Senior Scholar John Inazu here