Professor Lipner was born and brought up in India, for the most part in West Bengal. After his schooling in India, he obtained a Licentiate in Theology (summa cum laude) in the Pontifical Athenaeum (now Jnana Deepa Vidyapith) in Poona, and then spent two years studying for an M.A. in Indian and Western philosophy at Jadavpur University in Calcutta (Kolkata). Before sitting for his final examinations, he was invited by the well-known philosopher H.D. Lewis to undertake doctoral research (under Lewis’ supervision) on the self with reference to Indian and Western thought, at King’s College, University of London. Lipner obtained his PhD in 1974, and then spent a little over a year as lecturer in Indian religion at the University of Birmingham (UK), before being appointed to Cambridge in 1975, where he has taught ever since.

Lecturing widely in the UK and abroad, he has been appointed Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor in a number of universities both nationally and internationally. Professor Lipner has made a number of radio and TV appearances, and is a member of the editorial board of several international journals. His special fields of study are Vedantic thought, 19th century Bengal, and inter-cultural and inter-religious understanding, with special reference to the Hindu and Christian traditions. One of his research projects at present is the theory and practice of Hindu image-worship.

Professor Lipner is a Fellow and former Vice-President of Clare Hall and in 2008 he became a Fellow of the British Academy.