Lewis R. Lancaster (born 29 October 1932) is

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Buddhist Studies Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Bud ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, US, and has served as president and professor emeritus at

University of the West University of the West (UWest) is a private Buddhist university in Rosemead, California. It was founded in 1990 by Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan and Hsi Lai Temple, the North American order headquarters. ...

since 1992.

Early life

Lancaster graduated from

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

(B.A.) in 1954 and received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Roanoke in 2007. He is also a 1958 graduate of USC-ST (M.Th.) and a 1968 graduate of the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(Ph.D.). He received an honorary Doctorate of Buddhist Studies from Vietnam Buddhist University in 2011.

Academic career

In 1971, Lancaster established the Group in Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as the founding Chair of the Group in Buddhist Studies and as the Editor of the Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series. In the fall of 1977, Lancaster accompanied artist and monk Jung-kwang as they traveled through Korea, and published a book based on their trip. Lancaster has published over 55 articles and reviews and has edited or authored numerous books including Prajnaparamita and Related Systems, The Korean Buddhist Canon, Buddhist Scriptures, Early Ch’an in China and Tibet, and Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea. He also founded the

Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) is a digital humanities initiative involving numerous academic professors and institutions around the world with the stated goal of creating a networked digital atlas by creating tools and setting sta ...

to use the computer-based technology to map the spread of Buddhism from the remote past to the present. In 2008 Lancaster gave the Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society. Lancaster is the research adviser for the Buddha's Birthday Education Project, which has documented and hosted art exhibitions of the celebration of the Buddha's birthday in Chinese Buddhism throughout history.

Korean Buddhist Canon

Lancaster was a key figure in the creation of descriptive catalogue and digitization of the Korean Buddhist Canon.
an

Both retrieved 9 March 2020 He was awarded the 2014 Grand Award from the Korean Buddhist Order for his contribution to Buddhism.

References

External links

Faculty page at University of California, Berkeley

Lewis Lancaster page at Buddha's Birthday Education Project

Faculty Page at Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
* ''The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue''

Retrieved 9 March 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Lewis 1932 births Living people University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty 20th-century American Buddhists Buddhist studies scholars People from Berkeley, California Place of birth missing (living people)