Tenzin Dorjee (University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Human Communication Studies at CSU Fullerton.
His expertise is in intergroup and intercultural communication and he is a recipient of faculty recognition awards for outstanding achievements in teaching, research, and community service.
Tenzin Dorjee was recognized as the Distinguished Faculty Marshall of the College of Communications, and as the Distinguished Faculty Member of his department in 2017.
In December of 2016, Leader Pelosi nominated him, and the U.S. House of Representatives appointed Dr. Dorjee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). He was reappointed in May of 2018, and in June he was unanimously elected as Chair of the bipartisan commission.
As a part of his work, Tenzin Dorjee has travelled to Burma and Iraq to monitor religious freedom conditions. He has testified before Congressional Hearings on religious freedom within Tibet and China.
He is also a prominent native Tibetan translator who has done translations for His Holiness Dalai Lama, His Eminence Lati Rinpoche, and other eminent Tibetan lamas in India and North America.
Dr. Dorjee’s study of Buddhism began at Sera Jey Monastic University, and later at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in India. He served as a Lotsawa (translator) for over 13 years at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, the Tibetan National Library in exile, in Dharamsala, India.
Since 1993, he has voluntarily served as a translator for late Very Venerable Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen and the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling.
Tenzin Dorjee’s outstanding voluntary service includes acting as Vice President and President of the Tibetan Association of Southern California, as well as giving summer teachings at the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education, Bangalore, the College for Higher Tibetan Studies (CHTS), Sarah, the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) in Dharamsala, and other institutes in India.
In 2019, he was honored with a plaque and reception by the Standing Committee Members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile and also with the first Three Wheel Recognition Award by IBD and CHTS for his distinguished voluntary services and contributions to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan culture, language, religion, religious freedom, and the Tibetan cause.
Tenzin Dorjee completed his two terms of almost four years with distinction in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on May 14, 2020.
