Joyful News

Professor Rhonda Magee, President
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society

Former Director Arthur Zajonc comments:

I am delighted that Professor Daniel Barbezat will take on the leadership of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Dan brings together the rare combination of academic accomplishment, teaching excellence, and an active contemplative life. Those who have heard him present on his use of the contemplative in college classrooms know what a pleasure it is to hear him. During recent years Dan has been central to the work of the Center both as a member of the Board and with me as Associate Director. It is an exciting time for the Center, with substantial growth in interest and influence, and Dan is superbly qualified to take on the direction of the Center and its work in higher education.

Executive Director Dan Barbezat comments:

At a time when education and training are vitally important and the demand for education services is ever growing, there are threats on all fronts. Students face the pressures and grimness of labor markets; staff and administration are stretched beyond their capacity and the faculty is asked to carry an ever increasing load. Sustained engagement with our ideals and one another is increasingly difficult. Like never before, this is a time for us to attend closely to ourselves and our relationship to others in a deep reflection into what each of us values most deeply. I believe very deeply that the work of the Center can supply essential resources to support and sustain this kind of meaningful inquiry.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to direct the Center of Contemplative Mind in Society and to continue working, albeit in a new capacity, with the Center’s fantastic staff and Board of Trustees. Above all, though, I am especially grateful to Arthur from whom I have learned so much. I wish him the very best at Mind & Life.

Mirabai Bush, Founding Director and current Associate Director, comments:

We are so fortunate that Dan has agreed to be Director. He, Arthur, the staff, and I have been working closely (and joyfully) for 2 years now, and I know he'll be an inspiring leader for the programs and the Contemplative Mind community. Impermanence is the nature of all life, and we are becoming experts at living within it! And who better than a contemplative economist to guide us through these times with wisdom and humor. We are blessed.

Lila Mereschuk, Beth Wadham, and Carrie Bergman, on behalf of the staff of the Center, add:

Over the past two years the Center's work in higher education has flourished under the Arthur's leadership, and we will miss being in regular contact with him now that he's taken on the presidency of Mind and Life. But we are heartened that he will still serve on the Board and continue to guide the development of Contemplative Mind along with current Associate Director Mirabai Bush and new Executive Director Daniel Barbezat. And we are really excited about the prospect of Dan's leadership. He's an inspiration to us and to many others-if you've heard him speak at one of our events, we think you'll agree! He embodies and illuminates how a contemplative approach supports honesty, insight and joyfulness. We're very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Dan, Mirabai, our Board and our ever-growing community in the new year.