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American Institute of Buddhist Studies
Robert Thurman founded the American Institute of Buddhist Studies in 1972 — at the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama and the late Ven. Geshe Ngawang Wangyal — with the ambitious mandate to translate and publish the originally Indian Buddhist artistic, scientific, and religious works collected in the Tibetan Tengyur (bstan 'gyur).
AIBS received its 501(c)3 tax exempt status as The Buddhist Studies Institute in 1974. In 1977 the Buddhist Studies Institute changed its name to The American Institute of Buddhist Studies, keeping the same 501(c)3 tax exempt status.
During the 1970s and 80s, with funding from the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and private donors, translations were done slowly and steadily, while translators were systematically trained. In 1988, the AIBS secured its program for long term operation by entering into an historic affiliation with Columbia University, creating the Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS) and assisting the University in developing the endowment for the Jey Tsong Khapa Professorship of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies. Its incumbent was formally charged with the oversight of the systematic translation of the Tengyur collection and its associated literature, and the income from its growing endowment was dedicated to that monumental task.
In the last half-century, Indo-Tibetan scholarship has progressed markedly and a new generation of highly skilled and dedicated scholars has emerged. With improved analytical and technological tools, scholars are producing new translations, revising the pioneering works of their predecessors, and sharpening the critical edge of Buddhological, textual, and comparative methodologies.