The Mind and Life Board of Directors is comprised of a balanced, diverse composition of university or foundation leaders, pragmatists with business and board governance experience and contemplatives and contemplative scholars. Their primary responsibility is to represent the interests of Mind and Life stakeholders including academics, professionals, the larger public, and contemplative practitioners both spiritual and secular.

The Mind and Life Board of Directors determines the organization’s mission and vision, evaluates the CEO, establishes governance and policy, and ensures adequate funding and fiduciary responsibility. Board members serve a three-year term with a maximum of three terms.

Honorary Board members include:

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Honorary Chairman

R. Adam Engle, J.D., M.B.A.
Co-Founder

Francisco J. Varela, Ph.D.
Co-Founder (1946-2001)

Board of Directors

Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Raymond J. Gellein, Jr., M.B.A.
RBG Capital Advisors, LLC
Vice-Chair

Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
Psychologist, Author

Joan Halifax, Ph.D.
Upaya Zen Center

Anne Harrington, Ph.D.
Harvard University

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts Medical School

Thupten Jinpa Langri, Ph.D.
Institute for Tibetan Classics
Chair

Bennett M. Shapiro, M.D.
Merck Research Laboratories (Retired)

Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D.
Amherst College
Board Member ex officio

Lifetime Emeritus Board Members

Lifetime Board members are a distinguished group of Emeritus board members who have served three full terms (9 years) as board members, and who have been invited to become Lifetime board members.

Lifetime Board members are nominated by the Board Development Committee and elected by the Board, invited to attend all Board meetings as non-voting members, invited to comment on all MLI activities through open comment process and encouraged to participate in fund-raising events.

Current Lifetime Emeritus Board members include:

Tenzin Choegyal
Dharamsala, India

B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D.
The Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies