Anantanand Rambachan

Anantanand Rambachan "is a Professor of Religion, Philosophy and Asian Studies at Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, USA, where he has been teaching since 1985.

"Prof. Rambachan was born in Trinidad and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom.

"Prof. Rambachan is the author of several books and numerous articles and reviews in scholarly journals. Among these are, Accomplished the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Shankara and The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Authority of the Vedas, The Hindu Vision , Gitamrtam and Similes of the Bhagavadgita. His writings include a series of commentaries on the Ramayana of Tulasidasa. A series of 25 lectures by Prof. Rambachan was transmitted around the world by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"Prof. Rambachan has a deep and sustained interest in interreligous dialogue and, in particular, the dialogue between Hinduism and Christianity. He has participated in numerous consultations and meetings convened by national and international organizations concerned with interreligious issues. He has been very active in the dialogue programs of the World Council of Churches, and was Hindu guest and participant in the last three General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver, Canada, and Canberra, Australia and Harare, Zimbabwe.

"Prof. Rambachan is an Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of Hinduism, a project which is working to produce the first, comprehensive, multivolume series treating the Hindu tradition. He is a member Consultation on Population and Ethics, a non-governmental organization, affiliated with the United Nations.

"Prof. Rambachan has traveled and lectured in many countries, including Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, India, Canada and the United Kingdom. He returns to the native country, Trinidad, each year, for public lectures and has been delivering monthly lectures, in Minneapolis, at the Hindu Society of Minnesota, since 1986. In 1989, Prof. Rambachan was awarded the Chaconia Gold Medal, Trinidad and Tobago's second highest national honor for public service."

• Advisory Council, Tony Blair Faith Foundation
• Advisory Board, The Pluralism Project