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YI Fa

Adjunct Senior Fellow
Expertise Buddhism
Programs

Yifa is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Charhar Institute in Beijing. Yifa is a Taiwanese scholar and writer and the founder of the organization, Woodenfish Foundation. She is a nun ordained in 1979 by Fo Guang Shan, a new religious movement of Taiwan. Yifa holds a law degree from the National Taiwan University, a master's degree in comparative philosophy from the University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University. She served as a Department Head and Dean of University of the West during her tenure at the college. In 2002, Yifa was awarded "Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award." In October 2006, she was honored at the 9th Annual Juliet Hollister Awards Ceremony, which was held at the United Nations Headquarters. Yifa was recognized along with Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was honored posthumously.