Wesleyan professor of religion and East Asian studies Jan Willis has been named “Outstanding Woman in Buddhism” for 2009 and will be presented with the award in Bangkok, Thailand later this year. Read an informative article on her achievements here.
A member of Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s and an active participant in the civil rights movement, Willis has written about her extraordinary life in Dreaming Me. A second edition of the book was published last year by Wisdom Pubs, with a new afterword by Bettina Aptheker. Be sure to pick up a copy—it’s a great read and an important biographical history of spirituality and social justice in the twentieth century.