Venerable Walpola Piyananda is a Theravada monk who has been ordained since age 12 in Sri Lanka. He founded Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles in 1976 and serves as abbot. He holds M.A. degrees and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and UCLA. Piyananda is adviser to the president of Sri Lanka on international religious affairs and chief monk of the Sri Lankan Sangha in America and Canada. He was instrumental in re-establishing the Theravada bhikkhuni order, serving as preceptor at the first full ordination of women in 1996 in Sarnath, India, after the lineage had ceased in 1017. He has ordained numerous women as fully ordained nuns. Piyananda served as Buddhist chaplain for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and has provided services to Southeast Asian refugees. He is author of three books on Buddhism.