The untimely passing of Professor Elliot Sperling is devastating news to the
International Association of Tibetan Studies. Elliot had served on the advisory
board of the IATS for many years. His advice and guidance on the furtherance of
Tibetan studies were much appreciated by all of us. In July 1998, Professor
Sperling was the convener for the Eighth Seminar of the International
Association for Tibetan Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. While
teaching at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, at Indiana University,
Professor Sperling helped to establish Indiana as one the leading centres of
Tibetan Studies in the world and was responsible for the training of a
generation of Tibetan studies scholars. IATS has asked his close friend
historian Roberto Vitali, who edited Trails of the Tibetan Tradition, Papers
for Elliot Sperling, (published by Tashi Tsering, Amnye Machen, Dharamsala,
2014), to write a tribute to Professor Sperling. We are sharing Roberto Vitali’s heartfelt words.
Tsering Shakya – President, International Association for Tibetan Studies