Officers:

The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi,  President

Priyadarshi: The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is the Founder and President Prajnopaya Foundation, a worldwide humanitarian organization. He received his undergraduate degree (summa cum laude) and was also an Integral Honors Scholar (studying Philosophy and Physics), and has a graduate degree in Comparative Philosophy of Religion from Harvard University. At the age of ten years, he entered a Buddhist monastery in Rajgir near ancient Nalanda University and was subsequently ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is his spiritual mentor.

He has been interviewed by the National Public Radio and articles on him and his work have appeared in the New York Times and the Boston Globe. He also speaks at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and various institutes of learning.

Venerable Tenzin lectures internationally and is also Founding Director  of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Scott Kennedy, Ph.D., Director

Dr. Scott Kennedy is the Director of the Prajnopaya Foundation and a long-time supporter of the Foundation’s social welfare projects and efforts to improve access to health care.  He has led the foundation’s work on creating new and effective TB treatment programs and has continued to emphasize the importance of partnerships among communities, knowledge centers, and public agencies to create innovative and scalable solutions.

Dr. Kennedy is also the Associate Dean for Research and an Associate Professor of Engineering Systems and Management at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology – a new research-driven university established in Abu Dhabi through a close collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is one of the founding faculty members of the Institute and has worked to build and oversee the Institute’s Research Office.  His academic and research work focuses on applying systems thinking and analysis tools to a variety of pressing challenges in energy, health and development.

Dr. Kennedy received a PhD in Engineering Sciences and an S.M in Applied Math from Harvard University in 2003, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 1997.  He currently lives in Abu Dhabi with his family

Uschi Schueller, Director of Public Relations

The Prajnopaya Foundation Charitable Society (India)