Dr. Vijayalakshmy Rangarajan is Associate Professor Emeritus at the International Institute of Tamil Studies in Chennai, India. A renowned scholar, she has made important contributions in the fields of Tamil poetry and comparative studies of Tamil and Sanskrit literature. Vijayalakshmy’s expertise on Buddhism in early South India as articulated in the Tamil texts was the topic of her discussions with many Buddhist Studies faculty and students on campus. She was hosted by the department of South and Southeast Asian Studies while at Berkeley.