Dr. Dion Oliver Peoples United States of America Thai Sufficiency Economics Perspectives Dr. Dion Oliver Peoples earned his degrees in a non-traditional way, serving in the United States Air Force for a decade, as an intelligence analyst. Much of his work experience with scientific and technical training was able to transfer as undergraduate credits. He was also able to accumulate credits from City College of Chicago and the University of Maryland - European Division while also serving in the Air Force. He left the military in 2002 to become a fully ordained Theravada Buddhist monk, and attended Thammasat University in Bangkok to earn the one-year Thai Studies Certificate, and later disrobed to complete his university degrees, since at the time this was impossible to do in Thailand. The majority of these credits transfered to the University of Oregon, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies in 2004, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia, specializing in Cross Cultural Communications, Indigenous Cultural Studies and Ethnic Identity; also earning a Religious Studies minor, focusing on Theravada Buddhism and Islam. He earned his Master of Arts degree in Thai Studies, from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in 2006, writing his thesis on Morning and Evening Chanting in Thai Buddhist Temples. He earned his PhD in Buddhist Studies from Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in 2009, with his dissertation being: Utilization and Application of the Sangiti Sutta. He currently lectures in the Faculty of Buddhism at MCU - former courses included: Abhidhamma-Pitaka; History of Buddhism; and currently lectures in World Religions, and Research and Literature in Thai Buddhism. He has published many academic articles, mainly for the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations, annually since 2007 and with the Buddhist Research Institute since 2009, and has one article published by the Chulalongkorn University Journal of Buddhist Studies. He writes on a variety of topics in Buddhist studies, through sociological, political and scientific perspectives. He serves as the Editor of the United Nations Day of Vesak Academic Conference Publications for four of the last 5 years, and was the general editor for the International Association of Buddhist Universities 1st Academic Conference on Buddhism and Ethics. He is also the Secretariat Manager for the International Association of Buddhist Universities, and is also taking a role in the International Academic Affairs with the IABU. He is married and has two young sons.