People

Shelley Frost Rubin is the Cofounder and Chair of the Rubin Museum. Her and her husband Donald Rubin’s joint passion for Himalayan art led to their decision to create the Rubin Museum, which opened in 2004. A philanthropist and cultural leader who believes that art and cultural enrichment have the power to change lives in straightforward, practical ways, Ms. Rubin created A Blade of Grass (ABOG) in 2011 to provide resources to artists who demonstrate artistic excellence and serve as innovative conduits for social change. ABOG seeks to expand the relationship between art and life and create new audiences for art. Ms. Rubin is Cochair of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, which believes in art as a cornerstone of cohesive, resilient communities and greater participation in civic life. The Foundation supports arts and cultural organizations through grants to catalyze collective action, promote equality, contribute to advocacy and policy change and develop capacity for greater civic engagement. She is a Board Member of Human Rights Watch, Life Trustee of Thirteen/WNET, Trustee Emeritus of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, and an Honorary Board Member of the Interfaith Center of New York.

Noah P. Dorsky is a private investor and CIO of Dorsky & Company, Inc., a private-investment management firm and family office. He is a Director of The Dorsky Foundation and Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, two New York–based private foundations supporting and promoting arts and education. Mr. Dorsky was a Director of the SUNY New Paltz Foundation from 2002 to 2020, and Chair from 2009 to 2012. From 2002 to 2020, Mr. Dorsky served on the Advisory Board of The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art located on the campus of SUNY New Paltz, and on the Long Island City Cultural Alliance, including multiple terms as President and Treasurer. In 2014, Mr. Dorsky was elected to the board of trustees of the Rubin Museum and has served as Board President since January 2020. He earned a BA with honors from Brown University and an MA from Johns Hopkins University, both in experimental psychology. He has two daughters, two grandchildren, and is an enthusiastic, if not accomplished, amateur musician.

Robert M. Baylis is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse First Boston (Pacific), Inc., and has been active in 12 countries in Asia. Prior to this he had been involved in investment banking and mergers and acquisitions activities around the world, and had been responsible for strategic planning. He lived in Hong Kong for several years and traveled extensively in the Tibetan and Himalayan regions beginning in 1985. Mr. Baylis retired in 1996. Since that time he was Chairman of the Board of Gildan Activewear, Inc. until February 2012. He is also a trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Vice Chairman of Americares Foundation. He formerly served on the boards of New York Life, PartnerRe Ltd., and Covance Inc., and he was a managing director of the Wharton International Forum. Mr. Baylis is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

Chris Fussner is President/Owner of TransTechnology Pte Ltd, with operations in 15 countries throughout Asia and North America. He first came into contact with Nepal during an epic backpacking trip in 1973. He subsequently changed his course of study at George Washington University, where he received his BA in Asian studies and Chinese language. He also holds an MIM/MBA from Thunderbird School of International Management in Industrial Marketing, Asian studies, and Chinese language. He is on the board of directors of the International Republican Institute (IRI), and is the RNC representative to the International Democrat Union (IDU), both organizations tasked with defending democracy worldwide. Mr. Fussner is also a longtime advisor to and sole benefactor of the Jesuit mobile clinic program in Nepal, which provides basic healthcare to over 127,000 people per year.

Scott Grinsell is Managing Director and Head of Activist Engagement Strategy at Elliott Management Corporation, an investment firm. He was previously a corporate lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and served as a law clerk on the US. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the United States Supreme Court. He received his JD from Yale Law School, where he was Comments Editor of the Yale Law Journal, an MPhil from Magdalen College Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and a BA summa cum laude from Williams College. He is the President of the Association of Marshall Scholars, a member of the Board of Advisors of the NYU Law School Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance, and was previously a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ang Tshering Lama hails from the Solu Khumbu region and was born in Phaplu, Nepal. After growing up in the mountains, he moved to the United States in his late teens and studied finance in New York. After graduating, Ang worked as a budget analyst for a year until he felt the mountains calling him home. For more than ten years, Ang has been working in the tourism and hospitality sector of Nepal. When he is not in the Himalaya, he spends his time in Mongolia leading horse-riding treks. Ang is the founder of Phaplu Mountain Bike Club. He is an aspiring enduro mountain biker and spends his free time doing yoga, reading, backpacking, and anything that positively balances mind and body. In the spring of 2022, Ang—with a team of all Sherpa climbers—reached the top of Mt. Everest. The expedition was based around raising awareness regarding Sherpa climbers and better representation.

Samphe Lhalungpa has more than 32 years of experience in public sector management with both national and international bodies. He served in the Canadian Federal Public Service for over 12 years and worked with UNICEF for 23 years, concluding his career as the Country Representative in Turkmenistan in 2012. His tenure with UNICEF included extensive work in Nepal, from the Himalayas to the Terai regions. Born in Darjeeling to a Tibetan scholar father and a Bhutia mother, he was educated at the Rish Valley School and the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales. He holds a BA Hons in politics and government from City University, London, and an MPA from Queen’s University, Canada. Mr. Lhalungpa’s career has been influenced by his passion for social justice and equity, inspired by his parents’ work in broadcasting for All India Radio’s Tibetan Service. Postretirement, he chairs the Canada Tibet Committee, supporting the Middle Way strategy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A keen reader of historical fiction, with a special focus on Asia, he also promotes and collects contemporary Tibetan art. Mr. Lhalungpa practices intuitive archery and takes horse-riding lessons. Married to Ellen Wiesenfeld since 1981, they have two children and two grandchildren.

Michael J. McCormick is a retired sea captain. He was Master on the M.V. President Jackson, a 970-foot container ship in the transpacific trade. He is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Tibet House since 1997 and is a member of the Asian Art Visiting Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has traveled extensively in the Himalayas and Tibet while studying the art-historical aspects of Tibetan art. He has been a consultant for various Tibetan art exhibitions, including the exhibition Sacred Visions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the exhibition Divine Presence at Casa Asia in Barcelona. Mr. McCormick has a collection of eleventh–fifteenth-century Tibetan paintings that he has loaned to exhibitions at a number of major museums.

Jorrit Britschgi has served as the Rubin Museum’s Executive Director since 2017. Before joining the Rubin, he served as Head of Exhibitions and Publications at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland, where he was manager of the exhibitions program and curated numerous exhibitions. Mr. Britschgi also served as publisher of Artibus Asiae, one of the leading scholarly journals in Asian art and archaeology, for over a decade.

Jorrit Britschgi graduated from Zurich University with an MA in art history and Sinology (2005) and a PhD, with highest honors, in East Asian Art History (2009). Besides his research activities, he’s taken part in archaeological excavations in Eastern China and Bhutan, and curated numerous exhibitions on paintings from the Indian Himalayan region. Mr. Britschgi has received grants from federal and private foundations to pursue his studies and research. He is a 2017 alumni of the Getty Leadership Institute, and shares his expertise in an advisory capacity with other museums and individuals.

Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned and daring creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As writer, director, visual artist, and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. Ms. Anderson has published seven books, and her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world. In 2002 she was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA, which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance The End of the Moon. Her film Heart of a Dog was chosen as an official selection of the 2015 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and received a special screening at the Rubin Museum, where she joined in conversation with Darren Aronofsky. Ms. Anderson has made many appearances at the Rubin, and has been in conversation with Wim Wenders, Mark Morris, Janna Levin, Gavin Schmidt, Neil Gaiman, and Tiokasin Ghosthorse. She also hosted the premiere season of the Rubin’s AWAKEN podcast.

Deepak Chopra (MD, FACP), a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, is the founder of the Chopra Foundation and the Cofounder of Jiyo.com and the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Time magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “One of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.” Dr. Chopra is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and Clinical Professor in Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He is a prolific author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, with 25 New York Times bestsellers, including You Are the Universe. His latest book, Metahuman: Releasing your Infinite Potential came out in 2019.

Dr. Wen-Shing Chou specializes in art of China and the Himalayas. She teaches at Hunter College. Chou holds a MA and PhD in history of art from University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the relationship between religion and empiricism in early modern visuality, and the intersection of history, geography, and biography in Buddhist traditions. Dr. Chou’s research has been supported by the Mellon Assistant Professor fellowship and membership of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Ittleson Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, and the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies, Kyoto. Her articles have appeared in The Art Bulletin, the Journal of Asian Studies, the Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, and the Archives of Asian Art. Her recent book, Mount Wutai: Visions of a Sacred Buddhist Mountain examines the transformation of a Buddhist pilgrimage site in northern China.

Richie Davidson is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain. A friend and confidante of the Dalai Lama, Time magazine named Dr. Davidson one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006. His research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style, as well as methods to promote human flourishing; among these, meditation and related contemplative practices. He has conducted studies with individuals with emotional disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders and autism, as well as expert meditation practitioners with tens of thousands of hours of experience. His research uses a wide range of methods including different varieties of MRI, positron emission tomography, electroencephalography, and modern genetic and epigenetic methods. Dr. Davidson is the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he has been a faculty member since 1984. He is the founder of Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc., an external, affiliated nonprofit dedicated to supporting the mission of the Center for Healthy Minds.

Chime Dolma is the Cofounder and President of YindaYin Coaching, a nonprofit education organization that aspires to revolutionize education in immigrant communities in New York City. Ms. Dolma is professionally an educator, and currently works as the Assistant Director of Service Learning and a History Teacher at Riverdale Country School. She holds an MA in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Dolma received her BA from Middlebury College with a double major in political science and Chinese language.

John Dunne is Distinguished Professor of Contemplative Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialogue with cognitive science. His publications range from technical works on Buddhist epistemology to broader works on the nature of Buddhist contemplative practices, such as mindfulness. Dr. Dunne speaks in both academic and public contexts. In addition to serving as a faculty member for the Center for Healthy Minds, he is a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, where he has previously served on the Board of Directors. Dr. Dunne also serves as an academic advisor for the Ranjung Yeshe Institute.