Dr. Eisho Nasu Receives New Post

Dr. Eisho Nasu, the Hongwanji Chair Professor of Shin Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, for the past twelve years, was recently offered by Ryukoku University, Kyoto to the position of full-professor of Shinshu Studies in the university’s Department of Letters. He will begin his teaching assignment on April 1, 2009. Dr. Richard Payne, IBS Dean, made the announcement at the IBS Trustee Meeting on Friday, January 23, 2009.

Dr. Payne added, “The appointment of Dr. Nasu to Ryukoku University is an honor for IBS in that one of our faculty members was offered a full tenured position. This change in our staffing at IBS offers not only some unique challenges, but also unique opportunities. The relation between IBS and Ryukoku is key to promoting Shin Buddhism in the west, and with Dr. Nasu at Ryukoku we will be able to strengthen that relationship. We will miss Dr. Nasu and his expertise in the area of Shin Buddhist Studies and his work with our students.”

Dr. Nasu stated, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the BCA and the friends of IBS who have provided generous support, guidance, and encouragement during my time at IBS. Though I will miss my colleagues and students, I believe my move to Ryukoku will further expand the existing ties between the two schools and will benefit both institutions for the mutual development of ministerial education programs and academic research projects. I look forward to seeing you all in Kyoto.”

Dr. Nasu’s area of research and teaching interests at IBS were History of Pure Land Buddhist Thought, Shinshu Buddhist History and Thought, Works of Shinran, and Readings in Mahayana Texts: the Three Pure Land Sutras. He was also a Core Doctoral Faculty at the Graduate Theological Union.

In 1983, he received his B.A. from the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies; in 1986 M.A. from Ryukoku University, Kyoto; in 1990, M.A. from the Graduate Theological Union/IBS; and in 1996, the Ph.D from the GTU.