Connie Kassor is the chair of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Emory University. Prior to coming to Tri-C in 2025, Kassor worked at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where she was an associate professor of Religious Studies and special assistant to the president. Kassor has traveled extensively, living and working with Buddhist communities in India and Nepal. She has published academic articles and public scholarship on Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan history and culture, and the benefits of doing less in an increasingly busy world. Her forthcoming book, Awakened Awareness, explores the nature of knowledge from the perspective of the 15th-century Tibetan Buddhist philosopher, Gorampa Sonam Senge. Outside of work, she can be found riding a bicycle, experimenting in the kitchen or digging in a garden.