Alan Wallace, the Santa Barbara Institute's founder and president, combines an extensive background in contemplative practice with equally rigorous academic and scientific training. From 1971 to 1984, he immersed himself in Tibetan Buddhist studies, first in Dharamsala, India, and then in Switzerland under the tutelage of the eminent scholar Geshe Rabten. He then received a B.A. in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College, followed by a Ph.D. in religious studies at Stanford University.