ACLS Names 2025 Fellows and Grantees of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the 2025 awardees of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies. The program promotes the understanding and interpretation of Buddhist thought in scholarship and society, strengthens international networks of Buddhist scholars, and increases the visibility of new knowledge and research on Buddhist traditions. 

This year’s awards reflect the wide diversity of Buddhist traditions and practices around the world with support for projects focusing on a range of languages, historical periods, and locations of research. Fellows and grantees include one institution and 25 scholars located in eight countries across Asia, Europe, and North America.

• Three Buddhism Public Scholars will be placed in one- to two-year professional positions with the American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY), the Detroit Institute of the Arts (Detroit, MI), and the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library at the University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA). These recent PhDs will use their academic knowledge and professional experience to bolster the capacity of host institutions across Buddhist art, history, knowledge, and culture. The Buddhism Public Scholars initiative nurtures mutually beneficial partnerships between scholars and hosts that help disseminate knowledge of Buddhist traditions to broad publics.
• Ten Dissertation Fellows at universities in Canada, Germany, Japan, and the United States have been awarded up to $40,000 each for dissertation fieldwork, archival research, and writing. The fellows’ research examines subjects including Chinese Buddhist rhetorical strategies used at one of Asia’s largest international nongovernmental organizations, Buddhism in US prisons, and the collaboration of physicians and Buddhist image makers in early modern Tibetan medicine.
• Five Early Career Research Fellows at institutions in Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States will receive up to $75,000 each to advance promising research projects on topics such as the unique Rauli Buddhist tradition in Bangladesh, the relationship between Buddhist and Shamanic Bon traditions in Bhutan, and the influence of Buddhist Modernism on amulets and cultic images in Thailand.
• Six Translation Grants of up to $50,000 have been awarded to individuals and collaborative groups for translations of important texts that will expand understanding of gender, poetry, and ritual in a range of Buddhist traditions. Grantees will translate into English, Hungarian, and Tibetan works from underrepresented bodies of Buddhist literature that will shed new light on topics including the earliest stage of the Chan/Zen movement, the Geluk theory of Buddha Nature, and Tantric teachings authored by medieval Pakistani women.
• A New Professorship Grant of $300,000 will allow Northern Illinois University to establish a new tenure-track position in Buddhist Studies in the Department of Philosophy, with a joint appointment with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. The new professorship will significantly diversify the philosophy curriculum with the inclusion of Buddhist philosophy and thought in undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as enhance ongoing collaboration with Southeast Asian museums and universities.

“The twelfth cohort of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies exemplifies how contemporary Buddhist Studies scholarship can bridge historical understanding with present-day challenges,” said Deena Ragavan, ACLS Director of International Programs. “These impressive fellows and grantees demonstrate a commitment to bringing new perspectives on Buddhist traditions, thought, and philosophy, grounded in rigorous research.”

The Program in Buddhist Studies is made possible by a $7.5 million grant extension to ACLS from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global to advance research and scholarship in the field through fellowships and grants, nurture networks through annual symposia for early career fellows, and increase and diversify applicant pools across the globe.