Venerable Dr. Yifa

Venerable Dr. Yifa is Founder of Woodenfish Foundation. She became a nun at Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan in 1979. She received a law degree from National Taiwan University, a MA in comparative philosophy from University of Hawaii and her Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University in 1996. She has been the Dean at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist College and the Provost at Hsi Lai University, a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University, a lecturer at Boston University and a faculty member at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan. She taught at McGill University and served as the chair of Department of Religious Studies at the University of the West in Los Angeles. She has been granted numerous awards including “the Ten Outstanding Young Persons” in Taiwan in 1997, “Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award” in 2003 bestowed by the UN in Bangkok, and “Juliet Hollister Award” in 2006, for her contribution to Peace and Interfaith Education. Yifa is currently based in Beijing, and travels often to meet scholars and members of the global Buddhist community.