Alex Wayman passes. . .

[Guest guest]

Dear Colleagues,

 

I note with sorry the passing of Professor Alex Wayman, late of

Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA. I have

included a brief biography of Professor Wayman from the

Columbia University web site. As a former student of Professor

Wayman, I know that he will be missed by all of us.

 

Alex Wayman, Pioneer of Tibetology, Dies at 83

 

Alex Wayman, pioneer in the field of Tibetology and Professor

Emeritus of Sanskrit, died on Sept. 22 at the age of 83.

 

Wayman joined Columbia in 1966 as a visiting associate

professor of religion. In 1967, he was appointed professor of

Sanskrit in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages

and Cultures, a position he held until his retirement in 1991.

During his tenure, Wayman taught classes in classical Sanskrit,

Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, Indian and Tibetan Religions and the

history of astrology.

 

While at Columbia, he was a member of the administrative

committee of the Southern Asian Institute. He also served as

senior editor of The Buddhist Traditions Series (with 30 volumes

to date) published by Motilal Banarsidass in Delhi, India.

 

Wayman authored 12 books, including Buddhist Tantric

Systems, Untying the Knots in Buddhism, Enlightenment of

Vairocan, and A Millennium of Buddhist Logic. He co-authored a

translation of the 3rd-century Buddhist scripture Lion's Roar of

Queen Shrimala with his wife, Hideko. Her knowledge of

Chinese and Japanese sources complemented his research

and translation of Sanskrit and Tibetan sources.

 

An honorary volume, titled Researches in Indian and Buddhist

Philosophy (essays in honor of Prof. Alex Wayman), edited by

Ram Karan Sharma, was published in 1993 to commemorate

the many years that Wayman devoted to scholarly research on

Indian topics.

 

Born Jan. 11, 1921, Wayman received a B.A. (1948), M.A. (1949)

and Ph.D. (1959) from UCLA. He is survived by his wife.