Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Contemplative and Religious Studies Emeritx at Naropa University, where she has taught for over 40 years.  Simmer-Brown is the founder of Naropa’s Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education (CACE), a compassion trainer for the Compassion Initiative.  She is the author of Dakini’s Warm Breath:  The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism (Shambhala) and editor, with Fran Grace, of Meditation and the Classroom:  Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies (SUNY).  She is Guest Co-editor of a forthcoming Special Issue on Compassion and Skillful Means for Mindfulness Journal (Springer).  She is a senior Shambhala dharma teacher, a former acharya, who teaches Vajrayana Buddhism, Shambhala teachings, and compassion programs.