Mind-Benders of Buddhist History
The first Buddhist monk to hold a Western university chair
In 1964 the Sri Lankan monk Walpola Rahula became a professor at Northwestern University in Illinois — described as the first Buddhist monk to hold a full professorial chair in the Western world. He was 57, and his book "What the Buddha Taught" had appeared five years earlier.
How we know
Walpola Rahula Thera (9 May 1907 – 18 September 1997): appointed Professor of History and Literature of Religions at Northwestern University in 1964, first bhikkhu to hold a professorial chair in the West; "What the Buddha Taught" published 1959. (Wikipedia; Encyclopedia of Buddhism)
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.