The University of Michigan has announced a gift of $2 million from alumnus Amnuay Viravan, a former deputy prime minister, finance minister and foreign minister of Thailand, to endow a professorship of Thai Buddhism.

The gift, which includes matching support provided by the Crown Property Bureau of the Ministry of Finance of Thailand, will establish the Thai Professorship of Theravada Buddhism in support of courses and research at U-M — home to one of the largest Buddhist studies programs in North America — aimed at advancing knowledge of Thai Buddhism. Dedicated to the King of Thailand, the chair, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, will be affiliated with the university's Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. The department will begin an international search to fill the new position in the fall of 2015. Theravada Buddhism, the tradition of Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and Laos, counts more than 150 million followers worldwide.

"All of the success that I have achieved in my life, I owe to the University of Michigan," said Amnuay, who received a doctorate and two master's degrees from the university in the 1950s. "With the establishment of this chair, I am happy to give something back to my alma mater."