Board of Directors

Thupten Jinpa, PhD

Compassion Institute

Board Chair

Owsley Brown III

Owsley Brown Presents

Board Member, Fellow

Lisette Cooper

Fiduciary Trust International

Board Member

Martin Davidson

University of Virginia

Board Member

Sona Dimidjian, PhD

Renée Crown Wellness Institute

Board Member

Jack Kornfield

Spirit Rock Center

Board Member

Michael Potts

Advance Wave Partners

Board Member

Aaron Stern

Academy for the Love of Learning

Board Member

Founders

Adam Engle, JD, MBA

Mind & Life Institute

Francisco J. Varela, PhD

Mind & Life Institute

Founding Stewards

Richard J. Davidson, PhD

William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD

Upaya Institute and Zen Center

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Founding Steward

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

University of Massachusetts

Fellow, Founding Steward

Matthieu Ricard, PhD

Karuna-shechen

Convening Faculty, Fellow

Former Board Members (chronological order)

Adam Engle 
Francisco Varela
Alan Wallace
Elaine Jackson 
Richie Davidson
Daniel Goleman
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Anne Harrington
Paul Ekman   
Matthieu Ricard
Arthur Zajonc
John Dunne
Roshi Joan Halifax
Ulco Visser
Bennet Shapiro
Don Morrison
Tania Singer
Diana Chapman Walsh
Mark Bertolini
Raymond ‘Rip’ Gellein
Barry Hershey
Connie Kemmerer
Carolyn Jacobs

Tenzin Chogyal (Ngari Rinpoche), Honorary

Past Presidents
Adam Engle, 1991-2011
Al Kaszniak (interim), 2011
Arthur Zajonc, 2012-2015
Carolyn Jacobs (interim), 2015
Susan Bauer-Wu, 2015-2023