Awards
Outstanding Women in Buddhism 2005
Outstanding Women in Buddhism 2005

Bhiksuni Sang Won
Korea
Bhiksuni Sang Won (Sunim) studied as a Samaneri for seven years under Korean Tipitaka Master Bhikkhu Chi Kwan. In 1966 she received Higher Ordination as a Bhiksuni, and graduated from Dongkuk Universit ...

Bhikkhuni Dr. Gotami (Dr. Prem Suksawat)
USA
Bhikkhuni Dr. Gotami (Dr. Prem Suksawat) is well known as a Dhamma practitioner who has integrated Buddhist teachings with Western psychological teachings to help rid suffering from daily life. She est ...

Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna
Sri Lanka
Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna is a meditation teacher from Samatha Vipassana Meditation Centre in Pallekelle, Kundasale, Sri Lanka. She is 65 years old. She became a nun 10 years ago, and has since led a very ...

Bhiksuni Hong Xiang
Taiwan
Bhiksuni Hong Xiang does social work. She was the first Bhiksuni in Taiwan to earn a degree in Early Childhood Education. She has taught young children and offered counseling at Chang Guang Orphanage. ...

Bhikkhuni Sucinta
Germany
Bhikkhuni Sucinta was born in Germany and was raised in a Catholic family. She earned University degrees in Psychology and Education, and conducted historical research on children during the German Naz ...

Bhikkhuni Rahatungoda Saddha Sumana
Sri Lanka
Bhikkhuni Rahatungoda Saddha Sumana's lifetime contribution to Buddhism is most praise worthy. In robes for nearly half-a-century, 48 years to be exact, she ordained at the age of 14 and lived for 42 y ...

Sister Thitamedha
Russia
Born on October 4, 1961 in Russia, near Moscow, Sister Thitamedha had a mother who was an intelligent, caring and good woman, who came from Siberia to study economics and supported herself throughout h ...

Samaneri Sukhetta
Thailand
Samaneri Sukhetta trained in Marketing at a Vocational College for her Associate's degree, and worked in marketing for 10 years. At the age of 25 she became interested in Dhamma, and by the age of 29 o ...

Maechee Ratri Turongkawat
Thailand
Before her ordination, Maechee Ratri Turongkawat had a family with two daughters and three sons, and produced local Thai silk. She received 1st prize in silk production by the Ratri Thai Silk Co. In ...

H.E. President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Sri Lanka
Her Excellency President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka studied for her Law Degree at Aquinas University in Colombo, and then pursued her studies at the University of Paris from which she received ...

Shundo Aoyama
Japan
Shundo Aoyama, well known in Japan as a writer and lecturer on Buddhism, is the chief priest of the Muryo-ji Temple and the Aichi Semmon Niso-do Training Temple for female Soto Zen priests. She has wri ...

Samaneri Dhammadinna
Thailand
In 1996, Samaneri Dhammadinna became the first woman from Thailand to travel to Sri Lanka to become a 10 precept nun, a Dasa Sila Mata. Before devoting her life to religion, Samaneri Dhammadinna se ...

Upasika Khun Ranchuan Intharakamhaeng
Thailand
A reader, book lover, writer and critic, Upasika Khun Ranchuan Intharakamhaeng has instilled Thailand with a love of reading by helping to establish libraries, schools and literacy promotion programs, ...

Yogi Dr. Thynn Thynn
USA
In 1996, Yogi Dr. Thynn Thynn moved to northern California, and in 1998 established the Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Center of the Shwebawgyun Lineage, as an extension of the original Sae Taw Win Monastery in ...

Than Phuying Poonsuk Phanomyong
Thailand
Than Phuying Poonsuk Phanomyong was born to the Buddhist family of “Na Pomphet” on the 2nd of January 1912, and was reared in Buddhist Ethics. She studied at St. Joseph's Convent School in Bangkok. In ...

Vilas Porpraphai
Thailand
Vilas Porphraphai's love of science and humanity inspired her to become a nurse. She graduated from Boromarajonani Nursing College in Bangkok in 1964 and received her B.S. in Nursing from Prince of Son ...

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma
“To the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. But it is women and children who have always suffered the most in situations of conflict." Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Daw Aung San ...

Maechee Arun Pheturai
Thailand
Maechee Arun Pheturai grew up in a family of seven sisters and brothers, and studied up to the level of high school, while working on her family's farm. In 1959, she began to study the Dhamma, and ord ...

Sopa Lohakachornpan
Thailand
Sopa Lohakachornpan was born in 1948 in Nakornsi Thammarat, southern Thailand. She was the sixth of 9 children, and her parents were loving and compassionate. These seeds of good parenting and a happy ...

Sister Jotika Hermsen
Netherland
Sister Jotika Hermsen of the Netherlands shares the Dhamma of love, joy, compassion and hope on TV, radio and at her temple in Amsterdam. A Christian nun of 25 years and professor of Women's Studies, S ...

Dr. Suwimon Pukprayoon
Thailand
Dr. Suwimon Pukprayoon began as a teacher in private schools in Thailand for 9 years. Then she was appointed by the Ministry of Education as the Special Education Supervisor for Public Schools. She ser ...