Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D is Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University (Emory Compassion Center), formerly the Emory-Tibet Partnership. In this capacity, he has supervised the academic endeavors undertaken by Emory in collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1998. Dr. Negi is also a Professor of Pedagogy in Emory University’s Department of Religion and the founder and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Dr. Negi has been at the forefront of compassion science, collaborating with numerous researchers from multiple disciplines to examine the mechanisms behind compassion and its effects on the mind and body.

Through the Emory Compassion Center, Dr. Negi developed—and now oversees—three programs that are at the intersection of science and spirituality. These programs are supported by robust research components as the Emory Compassion Center works to advance a global culture of compassion.

The first of these three programs began in 2004, when Dr. Negi developed CBCT^® (Cognitively-Based Compassion Training), a secularized contemplative program based on Tibetan Buddhist mind training practices that deliberately and systematically work to cultivate compassion.

Following the CBCT^® program, Dr. Negi developed the Robert A. Paul Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI). Under his direction, ETSI created a comprehensive, six-year-long modern science curriculum specifically for Tibetan monks and nuns and supported its integration into monastic education. Currently, ETSI is training monastics to become science teachers and researchers.

At the invitation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Negi led the team that created a third program called SEE Learning^®(Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning), a framework and curricula for kindergarten through university level education and its accompanying educator resources. He now oversees the implementation of SEE Learning on a global level.

Born in Kinnaur, a remote Himalayan region adjoining Tibet, Dr. Negi is a former Tibetan Buddhist monk. He began his monastic training at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India and continued his education at the six-hundred-year-old Drepung Loseling Monastery, reestablished in south India after the Communist invasion of Tibet. He received the Geshe Lharampa degree in 1994, the highest academic degree conferred in the Tibetan monastic system. Dr. Negi completed his Ph.D. at Emory University in 1999.

Emory University and Drepung Loseling Monastery Renew Partnership after 25 years of Fruitful Collaboration

For the past 25 years, the shared vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Emory University for an education of heart and mind has guided the work of Emory’s Compassion Center, resulting in the development of innovative educational programs that promote human flourishing. In recognition of the tremendous accomplishments that have been a result of the unique partnership, a renewed agreement was signed by the Abbot of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Geshe Lobsang Samten and the Dean of Emory College of Arts and Science, Barbara Krauthamer. This momentous occasion was witnessed by many including the President of Emory University, Gregory Fenves, the Provost of Emory University, Ravi Bellamkonda, Vice President Emeritus of Emory University and Emory’s first official historian, Gary Hauk, and Co-Founder of the Emory-Tibet Partnership and Dean Emeritus of Emory College, Robert Paul, among other distinguished guests.

This Silver Jubilee celebration was held in conjunction with our annual observance of Tibet Week, which included a variety of events including performances, art exhibitions, panels, and more.

Some of the events of the Silver Jubilee and Tibet Week were recorded and you can watch them at this link: https://tibet.emory.edu/tibet-week-2023.html