Press Release
2008-10-30

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation
Endows and Names
the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies
Part of the Foundation’s Development of
a Global Network for Buddhist Learning



The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation has endowed the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford University, Palo Alto, U.S.A. The initiative is part of the Foundation’s plan to develop a global network of institutions to promote Buddhist learning.

One of the core missions of the Foundation is to advance the understanding of Buddhist philosophy and explore its relevance to the contemporary world. The Foundation is committed to opening up more channels for the younger generation, as well as the public, to access the philosophy of Buddhism.

By providing funding to the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford, the Foundation aims to widen the opportunity of exposing students, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to Buddhist ideas, values and practices. Since its inauguration, the Foundation has committed its resources to the construction of a global network of academic institutions for students and teachers to exchange and share Buddhist learning. Funding the Ho Center at Stanford marks a milestone in the ultimate goal of establishing a global learning network to foster interaction and exchange among institutions.

The gift to the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies helps to establish a permanent, endowed institution to nurture the steady growth of Buddhist studies at the university. The endowment will enable the center to enhance its research and educational support, its event programming and its international development.

Part of the gift is allocated to the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Graduate Fellowships to be awarded to graduate students enrolled in any doctoral program in the School of Humanities and Sciences and whose academic focus relates to Buddhist studies. The other part of the gift will support and promote teaching, research and scholarship.

Chairman of the Foundation, Mr. Robert H. N. Ho, said, “The Foundation is delighted to partner with Stanford in realizing the objective of building a global connection of Buddhist learning. The Center is well equipped to reaching out to the general public through events and programmes ranging from dialogue, symposia, lectures, workshops and seminars. These activities will bring multi-level benefits to students and scholars, as well as the entire Stanford community and the public. Some of the events will be held outside the campus in nearby cities. We are glad to work with the Center and leverage their experience and capability towards realizing our goal.”

The upcoming Annual Summer Research Workshop, which brings scholars together on a specific subject, and the Summer Seminars for students from around the world, are new initiatives enabled by the fund. The gift also made possible, for the first time at Stanford, two graduate fellowships devoted to Buddhist studies.

In the long run, to promote Buddhist learning around the world, the Center will advise and help other institutions, in the U.S. and elsewhere, to establish or expand centers for Buddhist studies. It will also participate in the creation and ongoing activities of a global network of such centers.

The Ho family has been building a global network for Buddhist learning since 2001. Beginning with our home base in Hong Kong and expanding throughout the world, the Ho family currently supports five centers for Buddhist studies through Tung Lin Kok Yuen Hong Kong, the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation and the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. The global network includes the following academic institutions:
- The University of Hong Hong (support by Tung Lin Kok Yuen Hong Kong since 2001)
- International Buddhist College in Thailand (supported by Tung Lin Kok Yuen Hong Kong since 2004)
- University of British Columbia (supported by Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation since 2005)
- University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus (supported by Tung Lin Kok Yuen Hon Kong since 2006)
- Stanford University (supported by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation since 2008)

The network will continue to grow, embracing an increasing number of universities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.


About the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation

With deep roots in Chinese culture, the Robert H. N. Ho Foundation was founded in 2005 with a mission to foster and support Chinese arts and culture, in particular cross-cultural understanding between China and the world.

Underlying the Foundation’s philosophy is a strong belief in the importance of educating the whole person and cultivating mutual understanding among people, thus benefiting the growth of the individual as well as society. The Foundation believes that participation in the arts enriches lives, liberates potential and encourages creative thinking. It also helps people approach issues in life, society and the world with greater ingenuity.

Since its inauguration, the Foundation has taken an active role in supporting numerous arts and cultural programs internationally. In 2007, it supported Britain Meets the World: 1714–1830, an international partnership between the British Museum and the Palace Museum in Beijing. In early 2008, the Foundation partnered with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York to present Cai Guo Qiang: I Want to Believe, realizing the museum’s first-ever solo retrospective of a contemporary Chinese artist. The exhibition will travel to Beijing to coincide with the Beijing Olympics in summer 2008, then to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in early 2009. In June 2008, the Foundation supported the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to present Power & Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty. The exhibition was an unprecedented cooperative effort among the Asian Art Museum, the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Shanghai Museum and the Nanjing Municipal Museum.

By joining hands with renowned Chinese writer Pai Hsien-yung, the Foundation is active in the revival and promotion of Kun Opera, an art form classified by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Touring performances of the Kun Opera classic Peony Pavilion has been ongoing throughout China and are planned for other destinations in the coming years.

Convinced that Buddhist philosophy can create an important path for personal and societal transformation, the Foundation supports programmes that provide a variety of view and tools to apply Buddhist insights to everyday life. It also supports programmes that explore the relationship between Buddhist philosophy and the arts - it collaborates with the Honolulu Academy of Arts in a multi-year project that aims to preserve, document and present the living Vajrayana Buddhist culture of Bhutan. The exhibition, The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, began in early 2008 and will tour until 2009, embracing such destinations as the Rubin Museum in New York and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The project will continue to provide conservation training for Bhutanese monks, create a video archive for Cham ritual dance, and develop a database on Bhutanese arts in museum collections worldwide. The Foundation hopes to inspire other efforts to preserve and revitalize traditional arts and culture.

In the arena of performing arts, the Foundation sponsored overseas tours of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, bringing dance and music talents to international stages.

In its home base, the Foundation develops arts education programmes and other initiatives that fulfill the cultural needs of Hong Kong society. It designs and operates Through Our Eyes, a creative arts programme that brings a fresh approach to the arts to young people. Through Our Eyes focuses on helping young people find and express their authentic voices through photography and creative writing. It is currently an extra-curricular programme in schools and has served more than 1,000 students from 200 schools in southern China and Hong Kong. Students explore issues of identity, family, community, cultural heritage and the environment. Creative works have been shared with the community in books and public exhibitions, such as the groundbreaking projection event, Wanchai In A Different Light. Students are also provided opportunities to interact with international artists visiting Hong Kong through the Foundation’s effort in crossing over with other local arts events.

In the effort to nurture young talent, the Foundation has formed a strategic partnership with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to provide orchestral fellowships to outstanding young string musicians from China and Hong Kong. The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Orchestral Fellowships offer apprenticeships with the Philharmonic for one full season for music graduates to gain skills and experience as they embark on careers as professional musicians. The Foundation also offers Scholarships for Outstanding Merit to young Chinese musical talents for studying at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Full scholarships covering the duration of diploma or degree courses are provided annually for six of the most outstanding young musicians entering the Academy.

To learn more about the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, please visit its official website at www.rhfamilyfoundation.org

~ The End ~



Co-released by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation and The University of Hong Kong. For media enquiries, please contact:
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation
Janet Tong
Tel ： 2232 0001
Email ： jtong@rhfamilyfoundation.org
     
Linkwork – PR agency of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation
Avis Cheng
Tel ： 2530 0388
Email ： avis.cheng@link-work.com.hk


Photos    
Photo 1 ： The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation endows and names the Center for Buddhist Studies at the Stanford University. Foundation Chairman Robert H. N. Ho (centre), Professor Stephen Hinton, Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities (left) and Professor Richard Saller, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences (right), share the same vision of promoting deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy in the contemporary world.
Photo 2 ： At the naming ceremony of The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at the Stanford University, Ms Caroline Pfohl-Ho, President of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, shared with the audience the Foundation’s vision and plans in promoting Buddhist philosophy.
Photo 3 ： Professor Carl Bielefeldt, Director of the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford Univeristy, remarked at the naming ceremony.
Photo 4 ： Dr. Irene Lin, Associate Director of Buddhist Studies; Professor Carl Bielefeldt, Director of the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford; Professor Richard Saller, Dean of Humanities and Sciences; Caroline Pfohl-Ho, President of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation; Professor Hester Gelber, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies; Robert H. N. Ho, Chairman of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation; Helen Ng, CEO of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation; Professor Stephen Hinton, Senior Associate Dean of Humanities; Paul Harrison, George Edwin Burnel Professor of Religious Studies.


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