Geshe Michael Roach was born in California and graduated from Princeton University with honors. He has also received the Presidential Scholar Medallion from the President of the United States, at the White House.
He was the first American to complete and receive the “Geshe” degree after 25 years of study. At the same time, he helped to found Andin International Diamond Corporation in New York City, which grew from a small investment to $250 million USD in annual sales, and was purchased in 2009 by super-investor Warren Buffet. Geshe Michael’s profits from Andin International were used almost entirely to create and support several charitable organizations.
Nearly 30 years ago, he founded The Asian Classics Institute, which provides 18 free online courses containing a complete education in the greatest books of Asian philosophy, and trains refugees in professional skills required to research, input and digitize stunning and revolutionary ancient Asian manuscripts which would otherwise be lost forever. The refugees are then employed to locate, rescue and “digitize” the decaying books.