Winston King (Harvard Ph.D., 1940) began his career as a Christian pastor and became interested in Buddhism while serving as an advisor to the International Institute for Buddhistic Studies in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar), from 1958 to 1960. From 1965 to 1966, King held a Fulbright Lecturership in Kyoto, where he became interested in Japanese Buddhism. He served as Dean of the Chapel and professor of Grinnell College (1949–1963), professor of the history of religions at Vanderbilt University (1964–1973), and, after his retirement from Vanderbilt, held an appointment as professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. He died in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2000.

~ Adapted from Donald K. Swearer’s obituary in Buddhist-Christian Studies.

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