Robert A.F. Thurman, PhD, is a scholar, author, and academic who has written, edited, and translated numerous books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair in this field in the United States. He also is the co-founder and president of the Tibet House New York. Time Magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997. He is the author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics, and culture.