When and where was Donald S. Lopez Jr. born?
Donald Sewell Lopez Jr. entered the world in 1952 within Washington, D.C.
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Donald Sewell Lopez Jr. entered the world in 1952 within Washington, D.C.
He earned honors in Religious Studies by 1974 at the University of Virginia before securing a Master of Arts degree in Buddhist Studies in 1977. A doctorate followed four years later in 1982 establishing his credentials as a scholar of Buddhism.
The University of Michigan appointed him to the Arthur E. Link Distinguished university professorship in Buddhist and Tibetan Studies. This role situates him within the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures where he commands both classical and colloquial Tibetan.
The University of Chicago Press released Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West in 1998. Later works include From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha published by the same press in April 2013.
Lopez argues that what many consider traditional Buddhism is actually a construction formed during encounters with Western colonialism. He suggests that the very idea of a rational scientific religion emerged from these specific historical interactions rather than ancient practice alone.
He co-authored and edited The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism alongside Robert E. Buswell Jr. for release by Princeton University Press in 2013. The volume won the 2015 Dartmouth Medal from the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.