OCBS employs three part-time staff and benefits greatly from the help of volunteers.  For more details on our Staff please visit the Contact Page.

The OCBS has twelve Trustees:

• Richard Gombrich, Boden Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus, chairs the Trustee Board. He also serves as Academic Director of the Centre pro bono. He first proposed the idea of a Centre for Buddhist Studies in 2002.

Click here for full details of Richard’s career. [a Word file   ~5MB]

• Ramesh Kapadia is the Honorary Treasurer. He studied mathematics at Warwick, and then at  Brasenose College, Oxford before completing a doctorate at  Nottingham University. He now acts as an educational consultant after a long career culminating in becoming one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors, a role he undertook for over twenty years.  He is currently Honorary Professor at the University of Klagenfurt and occupied a similar position at the Institute of Education, University of London from 2009-2012.
• Geoffrey Bamford gained a 1st class degree in Sanskrit and Pali from Oxford University in 1970, then did 4 years’ postgraduate work, both in Oxford, at Wolfson College. and in Sri Lanka and India. From 1974 he had a business career; from 1986 to 2000, he ran an independent consultancy in cross-cultural communication. In 2003, he helped to found the OCBS, and has since been a Trustee. From 2003-11 he served as Executive Director, working full time pro bono. In 2008, he in addition helped to found the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, where he also served as Executive Director 2008-11. Since 2011, he has run the Traditional Scholar Visitorship scheme. He lives on Exmoor and in London, and writes poetry.
• Janice Block is EVP, Chief Legal and Chief Administrative Officer at Kaplan Inc.
• Tony Morris holds a doctorate in history from Cambridge University. He ran the world’s largest history list at Oxford University Press, was a founding director of Hambledon and London (Sunday Times Small Publisher of the Year 2001-2002) and first Chief Executive of The History Press. He is also a published author, partner in an historical walks company and co-director of Historyfm, the UK’s only multi-media history agency.
• Originally from Shan State, Union of Burma, Khammai Dhammasami has a doctorate from Oxford. The incumbent of the Oxford Buddha Vihara, he also heads the International Association of Buddhist Universities (www.iabu.org) and has been involved in organising the UN day of Vesak, based in Bangkok since 2005. He travels the world both in that capacity and as teacher and meditation master. He has a key role in the OCBS’ relations with the Sangha and Buddhist Universities in Theravada countries and more widely across Asia. Supporters of the Oxford Buddha Vihara have offered much voluntary help to the OCBS.
• Victoria Ying Jin, co-founder at OGS and managing director at High Top Publishing, LLC, is licensed to practice law in both California and the Peoples’ Republic of China.
• Jan Westerhoff is a Fellow and Tutor of Lady Margaret Hall. He is also a University Lecturer in Religious Ethics. His research focuses on philosophical aspects of the religious traditions of ancient India. Much of his work concentrates on Buddhist thought (especially Madhyamaka) as preserved in Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, he also has a lively interest in Classical Indian philosophy (particularly Nyāya). His research on Buddhist philosophy covers both theoretical (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language) and normative aspects (ethics); he is also interested in the investigation of Buddhist meditative practice from the perspective of cognitive science and the philosophy of mind.
• David Gellner (Bio forthcoming)
• Jonathan Katz (Bio forthcoming)
• Roger Farmer (Bio forthcoming
• Justin Meiland (Bio forthcoming)

The OCBS is assisted by its Academic Advisory Committee:

Cathy Cantwell catherine.cantwell@orinst.ox.ac.uk

David Gellner david.gellner@anthro.ox.ac.uk

Dirk Meyer dirk.meyer@orinst.ox.ac.uk

James Lewis jay.lewis@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Peggy Morgan peggy.morgan@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

Phillip Harries phillip.harries@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Richard Gombrich richard.gombrich@balliol.ox.ac.uk

Rob Mayer robert.mayer@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Sarah Shaw sarah99@onetel.com

Sondra Hausner Sondra.hausner@theology.ox.ac.uk

Ulrike Roesler ulrike.roesler@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Ven. K. Dhammasami oxford.k.dhammasami@googlemail.com

Robert Chard robert.chard@orinst.ox.ac.uk

The OCBS also has an Advisory Board:

• Ven. Hin Hung Sik –  Director of the Centre of Buddhist Studies of the University of Hong Kong.

• Prof. Dr. Ernst Steinkellner – Guest Researcher, Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, University of Austria.

• Prof. Paul M. Harrison – George Edward Burnell Chair in Religious Studies at Stanford University.

• Prof. Dr. Cristina Scherrer-Schaub – Chair of History of Indian Buddhism, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris.
• Prof. S Hwang – Associate Professor, Major of Indian Philosophy, Dongguk University, Seoul.
• Prof. Shoryu Katsura – Professor, Ryukoku University.
• Prof. Florin Deleanu – Professor at the International Institute for Buddhist Studies (affiliated to the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies)
• Prof. Akira Saito – Professor in the Dept. of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies, Graduate School of Humanities & Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo

To see the CV’s of the members of our Advisory Board please click on their individual names.