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Jeffrey Hopkins is Professor Emeritus of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia where he taught Tibetan Buddhist Studies and Tibetan language for thirty-two years from 1973. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1963, trained for five years at the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America in Freewood Acres, New Jersey, USA (now the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, New Jersey), and received a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin in 1973.

For ten years, from 1979 to 1989, Hopkins served as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s chief interpreter into English on lecture tours. At the University of Virginia, he founded the largest academic program in Tibetan and Buddhist studies in the West, and served as Director of the Center for South Asian Studies for twelve years. He has published forty-eight books, some of which have been translated into a total of twenty-two languages. He published the first translation of the foundational text of the Jo-nang school of Tibetan Buddhism in Mountain Doctrine: Tibet’s Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha-Matrix. He has translated and edited sixteen books from oral teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the last four being How to See Yourself as You Really Are; Becoming Enlightened; How to Be Compassionate; and The Heart of Meditation: Discovering Innermost Awareness.

He was the President and Founder of the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies.

Professor Hopkins passed away on July 1, 2024, at the age of 83. His contributions to the understanding of Tibetan texts and his extensive efforts in translating and teaching have left an indelible mark on students, practitioners, and the Buddhist community. His works will continue to inspire generations to come.

Please also see the page in memory of Jeffrey Hopkins that was compiled by Sravasti Abbey.