David Francis Germano is an American Tibetologist and professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia (UVA),[1] where he has dual appointments in its School of Nursing and Department of Religious Studies.

Germano is a former board member of the International Association of Tibetan Studies,[2] and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (JIATS),[3] a journal of Tibetology.

[9] Germano received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from the University of Notre Dame and later pursued his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, focusing on Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Studies.

His experiences included time in areas with dense population of Tibetans and other Himalayan Buddhists spanning Tibet, China, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.

He also investigates the contemporary state of Tibetan religion and its dynamic relationship with China.