William McKeever
Executive Director 1977–1978
About
William McKeever has been a student of Shambhala and Buddhism since 1972 when he met Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche while getting his degree in Buddhist Studies at Yale. Immediately following graduation he moved to Tail of the Tiger, now Karmê Chöling, to begin his dharma study, practice and teaching. McKeever has served as director of Karmê Chöling; vice president of Naropa University, where he coordinated the university’s successful accreditation effort; faculty member of Naropa’s graduate department of contemplative psychotherapy; founding director of the Ryuko Kyudojo; assistant director of education for Nalanda Foundation; as well as a member of the Shambhala Board of Directors under Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He has been a member of the Shambhala Trust since its inception until 2002 and served as its chairman. He has taught at many Shambhala programs from 1975–2005.
From 1992–2001, he served as director of Asian activities of the prestigious New York based Asia Society, which educates Americans about Asian cultures and contemporary affairs. While at Asia Society he opened regional offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Melbourne, San Francisco and Seattle. He also led tours to Mongolia, Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan, India, China, and Central Asia. Most recently he became a senior program advisor to the Garrison Institute, a new ecumenical retreat and conference center on the Hudson River north of New York City.
He has four adult sons, Noah Davis, Jonathan, Edward and Montford.
