Dalai Lama associate is chancellor

associate of the Dalai Lama, has been named chancellor of the Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies in Madhya Pradesh, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said Wednesday.

'It is a highest recognition of Tibetan scholars in general and the

remarkable and invaluable Tibetan Buddhist tradition in particular,' the

CTA said in a statement.

Rinpoche, 74, was the first directly elected prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile for 10 years from 2001. He took exile in 1959 along with the Dalai Lama after fleeing his homeland.