Mr. Tenzin Namgyal Tethong

Tenzin Namgyal Tethong is a Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University, teaching in the History Department and Continuing Studies Program. He is a former Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York and Special Representative in Washington, D.C. He began his work in the exile Tibetan community as a teacher at the first Tibetan refugee school in Mussoorie in 1960 and joined the Education Office of the Tibetan government in exile in 1967. In 1968, he co-founded Sheja Magazine and the Tibetan Youth Congress, serving in its first leadership executive committee.

During his tenure in New York, Tethong established The Tibet Fund and Potala Publications and played a key role in forming several Tibetan initiatives in the U.S. and Canada. He headed the Second Delegation of Tibetan exiles to Tibet and China in 1980. In Washington, D.C., he founded the International Campaign for Tibet. Elected as one of the first Kalons in 1990, he served in various portfolios, including Finance and Home, and as Kalon Tripa. In 1995, he moved to California and joined the Dalai Lama Foundation, promoting peace and ethics. He also launched “Tibet in Exile — Fifty Years” to document the last fifty years in exile.