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Prof. Dr. Richard Gombrich

Education:

1950-1955: Scholar, St. Paul’s School, London

1957-1961: Demy (scholar), Magdalen College, Oxford

1959: Honour Classical Moderations, First Class

1961: B.A. Oriental Studies (Sanskrit with Pali), First Class

1961-1963: Harkness Fellow of the Commonwealth Fund

1963: M.A. Harvard University

1963-1965: Treasury Studentship (Scarborough Studentship)

1970: D.Phil. Oxford University

Work Experience:

1965-1976: Lecturer in Sanskrit and Pali, Oxford University

1966-1976: Governing Body Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford

1976-2004: Boden Professor of Sanskrit, Oxford University and Professorial Fellow, Balliol College

1977: Emeritus Fellow, Wolfson College

1999-2004: Senior Fellow, De Montfort University

1981-1982: Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor, University of Bristol

1982: Visiting Professor, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

1986-1987: Stewart Visiting Fellow in the Humanities, Princeton University

1994: F.D. Maurice Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College London

1994: Jordan Lecturer in Comparative Religion, SOAS

1997: Gonda Lecturer, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

1998: Edmond Perry Lecturer, Northwestern University

2004-present: Emeritus Fellow, Balliol College

2006: Numata Visiting Professor, SOAS

2008: Visiting Professor, Dong-Guk University, Seoul

2008: Visiting Professor, Hong Kong University

2009: Evans-Wentz Lecturer, Stanford University

2003-present: Academic Director, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

Major Publications:

Precept and practice: traditional Buddhism in the rural highlands of Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.
Teach yourself Sanskrit: an introduction to the classical language. (Editor: Coulson, Michael) London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1976.
The perfect generosity of Prince Vessantara. (Co-author: Cone, Margaret) Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
On being Sanskritic: a plea for civilized study and the study of civilization. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
Balasooriya, Somaratna, André Bareau, Richard Gombrich, Siri Gunasingha, Udaya Mallawarachchi and Edmund Perry eds. Buddhist studies in honour of Walpola Rahula. London: Gordon Fraser, 1980.
Bechert, Heinz and Richard Gombrich eds. The world of Buddhism: Buddhist monks and nuns in society and culture. London: Thames & Hudson, 1984. Paperback ed. 1991.
Dhammapala, Gatare, Richard Gombrich and K.R. Norman eds. Buddhist studies in honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, 1984.
Theravåda Buddhism: a social history from ancient Benares to modern Colombo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988.
Gombrich, Richard, and Gananath Obeyesekere. Buddhism transformed: religious change in Sri Lanka. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. Paperback ed. 1990.
Buddhist precept and practice. (Revised edition of 1. above.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1991.
How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings. London: The Athlone Press, 1996.
Religious experience in early Buddhism? Eighth Annual BASR Lecture, 1997. British Association for the Study of Religions Occasional Paper 17. Printed by the University of Leeds Printing Service, Leeds [1998].
Kindness and compassion as means to Nirvana. (1997 Gonda Lecture) Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1998.
Theravåda Buddhism: a social history from ancient Benares to modern Colombo. 2nd rev. ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
Gombrich, Richard and Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, ed.: Buddhist Studies: Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, vol.8, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008