A leading figure in the field of history of Tibet and Tibet-China relations, Prof. Elliot Sperling, 66, has passed away few days ago in his apartment in Jackson Heights, New York, reported Phayul.com

The report added, “The historian encountered Tibetans in exile during one of his many trips to India and subsequently switched his field to East Asian Studies. His doctoral dissertation, Early Ming Policy toward Tibet: An Examination of the Proposition that the Early Ming Emperors Adopted a “Divide and Rule” Policy toward Tibet, in 1983 was received highly in the international circuit. ”

Watch the VOA report on him here. 

He was also a strong and vocal supporter of Tibet.  Here in this video, he is speaking in Tibetan at the Tibetan Freedom Rally in Bloomington, IN. March 17, 2008.