Joan Halifax, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author in addition to being a Buddhist teacher. She is the Director of the Upaya Institute and the Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1973, she earned a Ph.D. in medical anthropology. Her work has been on active and practical Buddhism for the past four decades, with a focus on end-of-life care and programs for inmates and the environment. She has talked on death and dying at a number of academic institutions in the United States and overseas as a visiting faculty member.

She is a member of the Mind and Life Institute's Board of Directors and a Fellow. Dr. Halifax started the Project on Being with Dying and is the author of several publications, including Being with Dying: Developing Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death.