The University of Michigan, which has one of North America’s largest Buddhist Studies programs, has received a gift of US$2 million to establish a Thai Professorship of Theravada Buddhism, believed to be the first chair of its kind in the world. The gift was from U-M alumnus Amnuay Viravan, who is the former deputy prime minister, finance minister, and foreign minister of Thailand, and was matched by the Crown Property Bureau of Thailand’s Ministry of Finance. The chair will be housed in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
From The Ann Arbor News File
Amnuay Viravan received a PhD in Business Administration, and master’s degrees in both Economics and Business Administration, from the university in the 1950s. “All of the success that I have achieved in my life, I owe to the University of Michigan,” he said. “With the establishment of this chair, I am happy to give something back to my alma mater” (Michigan News). Amnuay also said he wished to dedicate the chair to the king of Thailand.
An international search for a professor to fill the new position will begin in the fall. The appointee will teach courses on and conduct research into Thai Buddhism, and the knowledge will be shared with Buddhist scholars in Thailand and around the world.
“Michigan has a long and distinguished tradition of excellence in the field of Buddhist studies,” observed Donald Lopez, the university’s chair of Asian Languages and Cultures and the Arthur E. Link Distinguished Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies. “This historic gift will allow us to expand both our undergraduate and our graduate programs in new directions. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Amnuay for his lifelong dedication to the University of Michigan.”
According to Christi-Anne Castro, director of the U-M Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Thai Studies is also one of the university’s strengths. “The Thai Professorship of Theravada Buddhism substantively enhances our prominent national position,” she stated. “Thanks to Dr. Amnuay Viravan, we will continue to attract the brightest faculty and students to Thai Studies here and provide them with incomparable resources and opportunities.”
Theravada Buddhism is based on the Pali scriptures, the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha. It is practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, with more than 150 million followers worldwide.
It is believed that Buddhism was first brought to the area now known as Thailand in 228 BCE by Sohn Uttar Sthvira, a royal monk dispatched during the missions of the Indian emperor Ashoka. It was again introduced by Sri Lankan monks much later in the form of Theravada, which became the state religion of the Thai kingdom of Sukothai in the 13th century. It has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Thailand ever since.
The establishment of the new chair at the University of Michigan will be a significant help in establishing the study of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand with its rich culture, history, writings, and art, further increasing the Western understanding of Buddhism in all of its varied subtlety.