Galen Amstutz

Galen Amstutz

Studied foreign languages at UC Davis, and subsequently, living in a variety of places, served in a variety of roles.

Paula K. Arai

Core Faculty

Paula Arai joined the faculty in January 2023 from her position as the Gopal Singhal Professor at Louisiana State University.

Steven Barrie-Anthony

Research Fellow Program Director, Public Theologies of Technology and Presence stevenba@berkeley.edu Steven Barrie-Anthony is a research psychoanalyst with a clinical practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a scholar of religion. He holds doctorates in Religious Studies, and in Psychoanalysis. Steven’s […]

Harry Gyokyo Bridge

Shin Buddhist Ministerial Program Coordinator

Rev. Harry Gyokyo Bridge spent various parts of his youth in both Tokyo and the Boston area.

Courtney Bruntz

Core Faculty

Courtney Bruntz specializes in contemporary rituals and practices of East Asian Buddhist traditions.

Thomas Calobrisi

Research Fellow

Thomas Calobrisi's research focuses on the recontextualization of Buddhist ideas and practices in the American religious and intellectual landscape from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

Lilu Chen

Core Faculty

  Associate Professor of Spiritual Care and Interreligious Engagement, Director of Field Education email: lchen@shin-ibs.edu Dr. Lilu Chen began her academic journey as a scholar of Islamic Studies and Sufism focusing on China. Through unexpected turns in life, she found […]

Diana Clark

CJ Sokugan Dunford

Gil Fronsdal

Research Fellow fronsdal@sbcglobal.net

Gesshin Claire Greenwood

Communications and Admissions Director gesshin@shin-ibs.edu Gesshin is an ordained priest in the Soto Zen tradition. She trained in Japan at Toshoji and Aichi Senmon Nisodo for four and a half years before returning to the United States and completing Zuise. […]

Lisa Grumbach

lisa@shin-ibs.edu Degrees and Certifications: Ph.D., Stanford University M.A., Graduate Theological Union B.S., Harvard University Research and Teaching Interests: Japanese Buddhism Religion and food Religious landscape and art Shinto and Japanese religion Courses Taught: Topics in Japanese Religion Buddhist Traditions of […]

Daijaku Judith Kinst

President Emerita

Professor Emerita Contact: daijaku@shin-ibs.edu After completing formal training as a Soto Zen priest, Daijaku obtained a Master’s degree in psychology, licensure as a psychotherapist, and trained as a chaplain at UCSF Medical Center. She completed her PhD in 2004. Her […]

Kiyonobu Kuwahara

kkuwahara@bcahq.org Rev. Kuwahara was born in Japan and has been a priest of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism since 1999. In addition to teaching the courses at the IBS as a member of the adjunct faculty, he has been engaged in ministry […]

Taigen Daniel Leighton

taigen108@gmail.com Taigen is Guiding Dharma Teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago, and priest and Dharma successor in the Suzuki Roshi Zen lineage. He has taught at IBS since 1994. His previous books include Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva […]

Nancy G. Lin

Core Faculty

Noboru and Yaeko Hanyu Professor of Buddhist Chaplaincy, Tibetan and South Asian Studies Program advisor, Certificate in Buddhist Chaplaincy Contact: nlin@shin-ibs.edu Nancy Lin joined the faculty in 2021 after previously teaching at Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, and the University of […]

David Ryoe Matsumoto

President Emeritus

President Emeritus Rev. Dr. David Ryoe Matsumoto served as a member of the faculty from 1995 and as IBS President from 2016 until his retirement in 2024 whereupon the Board of Trustees named him President Emeritus. Degrees and Certifications: Ph.D., […]

Scott A. Mitchell

Core Faculty, IBS President

President Scott Mitchell has been a faculty member of the Institute since 2008, and a member of the IBS and GTU community since he began his graduate work in 2000. His research interests include Buddhism in Western contexts, Buddhist modernity, […]

Takashi Miyaji

Dean

Dean and H.E. Kosho Ohtani Professor of Shin Buddhist Studies Contact: tmiyaji@shin-ibs.edu Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji has been a minister since 2014 and currently works as a part-time minister at the Southern Alameda County Buddhist Church in Union City, CA. […]

Tori Montrose

Contact: victoria.r.montrose@gmail.com Tori is a Doctoral Candidate in East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. She specializes in modern and contemporary Japanese religion, especially Buddhism. Her dissertation examines the history of Buddhist universities in Japan from […]

Richard K. Payne

Professor Emeritus

Professor Emeritus Contact: rkpayne@shin-ibs.edu During his dissertation research into tantric fire ritual (Skt. homa, Jpn. goma) on Mt. Kōya in Japan, Payne also completed training as a Shingon priest (ajari). Clustering around his core research program on tantric ritual are […]

Charlie Korin Pokorny

korin108@gmail.com Charlie began Sōtō Zen practice in 1991 at the San Francisco Zen Center and trained as a resident at Tassajara and Green Dragon Temple (Green Gulch Farm) from 1994 to 2006. He received a master’s degree in religious studies […]

Natalie Fisk Quli

Core Faculty

Natalie Fisk Quli specializes in the social scientific study of contemporary Buddhisms, with areas of expertise in Buddhist modernisms, postcolonial issues, transnationalism/translocalism, and Theravada communities in the United States and Sri Lanka.

Grace Ramswick

gracer@stanford.edu Grace is a Ph.D. Candidate in Buddhist Studies at Stanford University. Her dissertation project investigates the contexts and intertexts of the Wenshushili wen pusa shu jing 文殊師利問菩薩署經 (Taishō 458), one of the lesser-known translations attributed to the second-century CE Yuezhi […]

Bhante Seelawimala

bhantes@yahoo.com Venerable Madawala Seelawimala Mahathera (Bhante Seelawimala) is a Theravadin monk from Sri Lanka. He received his novice ordination at age 10, and full ordination at age 20, in 1968. Since 1976, Bhante Seelawimala has been a Professor of Theravada […]

Luke Thompson

lukenoelthompson@gmail.com Luke Thompson received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2017, where he researched medieval Japanese Buddhist intellectual history, focusing in particular on a resurgence in devotion to Śākyamuni around Nara during the twelfth century. More broadly, he is interested […]

Mutsumi Wondra

Research Fellow

Rev. Dr. Mutsumi Wondra was born in Kyoto, Japan, and graduated from Kyoto Women’s University founded by Lady Takeko Kujo. She is currently the resident minister of the Orange County Buddhist Church (OCBC) in California. Contact: mwondra@shin-ibs.edu Degrees and Certificates: […]

Emily S. Wu

chiffonbleu@gmail.com Emily S. Wu is an expert in Daoism and Chinese Folk Religions, particularly infood, healing, and medical practices in Chinese and other East Asian religious contexts. Her teaching and community work also explore deeply into the diasporic, transnational, and […]

Seigen H. Yamaoka

Professor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Yamaoka left a lasting impact on the IBS. He passed away in 2024. You can read about his life and legacy here.  Degrees and Certifications: M.A. Litt.D., Ryukoku University, Kyoto M.R.E. and D.Min., Pacific School of […]