Geshe Kelsang Wangmo
Geshe Kelsang Wangmo was the first – and until 2016 only – woman to be awarded a Geshe title (only for monastics, it is equivalent to a PhD in Buddhist philosophy).
She was born in Germany and took ordination as a nun in 1991. She later enrolled in the traditional Geshe curriculum at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) in Dharamsala (a program 17 years in duration) and was awarded the Geshe title in 2011. Since 2004 Geshe Kelsang Wangmo has been teaching Buddhist philosophy classes in English in Dharamsala, following the curriculum of the IBD.
During His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Hamburg/Germany in 2014, His Holiness announced that Geshe Kelsang Wangmo is the first female Geshe. (Source Accessed Jan 28, 2026)
