Paul Groner (Professor emeritus, Religious Studies) has been awarded the 2024 Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai’s Cultural Award for the Promotion of Buddhism, which recognizes "individuals or organizations which have made significant contributions over an extended period of time in the promotion of the Buddhist spirit, culture and research." This is a major honor, and Paul is one of very few non-Japanese scholars to receive the award in its 57 year history.

Jackie Stone (Princeton) offers a translation of the official announcement: “The 2024 Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai’s Cultural Award for the Promotion of Buddhism goes to Paul Groner, Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia, who for many years has pursued research in Buddhism and Japanese culture; communicated Japanese Buddhism, in English, to the people of many countries; and has contributed to training young scholars in Japan.”

His most recent book is Precepts, Ordinations, and Practice in Medieval Japanese Tendai.