Dasho Karma Ura (

Dzongkha Dzongkha (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script. The word means "the language of the fortress", from ' "fortress" and ' "language ...

: ཀརྨ) is the President of the Centre for Bhutan Studies and Gross National Happiness Research. He is also an active scholar, writer, painter and historian.

Early life and education

Karma Ura was born in Ura, Bumthang,

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

. He completed his undergraduate studies at St. Stephen's College in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, as well as

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

, Oxford, and MA from

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He recently received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

in Japan.

Works and achievements

Karma Ura worked for the Ministry of Planning for 12 years before becoming the Director of the

Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research The Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research (formerly The Centre for Bhutan Studies) is a research institute located in Thimphu, Bhutan, established in 1999 with the purpose of promoting research and scholarship in Bhutan. The president of the ...

from its founding in 1999 until 2008 when he became its president. He organized the concepts of Gross National Happiness (GNH), formulated the nine domains of GNH, and led the surveys conducted in 2010 and 2007. He was also the member of Drafting Committee of the

Constitution of Bhutan The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་གི་རྩ་ཁྲིམས་ཆེན་མོ་; Wylie transliteration, Wylie:'' 'Druk-gi tsa-thrims-chen-mo'') was enacted 18 July 2008 by the Politics of Bhutan, R ...

, first enacted in 2008. Ura was awarded the red scarf and the title ''

Dasho Dasho (Dzongkha: དྲག་ཤོས; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Drag-shos'') (lit. Excellent One) is a Bhutanese honorific that is bestowed upon individuals, along with a red scarf kabney, by the Druk Gyalpo. In common practice, however, ma ...

'' by the Fourth King of Bhutan,

Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck (, ; born 11 November 1955) is the fourth Druk Gyalpo ( Dragon King) of Bhutan, reigning from 1972 to 2006. He is the father of the present King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. He is the only son of five ch ...

in 2006 and in 2010 the '' Druk Khorlo'' (Wheel of the Thunder Dragon). He holds various international roles, including Executive Committee Member of the School of Well-being,

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

, and San Nagarprada Foundation, Thailand, and 2010 Member of the Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives,

Global Policy Forum The Global Policy Forum (GPF) is an international organization that analyze developments in the United Nations and focus the topic of global governance. It was founded in December 1993 and based in New York and Bonn (Global Policy Forum Europe ...

, Germany. He is also a Member of the Chief Economist's Advisory Panel,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, representing the South Asia Region.

Personal life

He is currently married with two daughters.

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Hero with a Thousand Eyes: A Historical Novel'' (1995)

Non-fiction

* ''Asian Business and Management Practices: Trends and Global Considerations'' (2014) by Karma Ura and Patricia Ordoñez de Pablos * ''Leadership of the wise: Kings of Bhutan'' (2010
review
* ''The Spider and the Piglet (Proceedings of the First International Seminar on Bhutan Studies)'' (2004) by Karma Ura and Sonam Kinga * ''The Ballad of Pemi Tshewang Tashi: A Wind Borne Feather'' (1996)

References

External links

Karma Ura's keynote: Development with Integrity: Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index, at Oxford University, Jan 10, 2019

Karma Ura's talk at Global Wellness Summit, December 7, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ura, Karma Bhutanese writers 1961 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh