Dhogon Sangda Dorji was a professor of Classical Tibetan Literature at Tibet University in Lhasa, as well as a Professor of Tibetan Literature and Poetry at Inalco in Paris, France. His Manual of Poetics: A Feast for the Eyes and Mind, is the primary reference book in universities teaching Tibetan poetics in the People's Republic of China. His Manual of Standard Tibetan: Language and Civilization, written with Nicolas Tournadre, is a leading global resource for learning both spoken and written Tibetan. In 2006, he received the title of State Professor by the ministry of Education, the highest academic honor given in the People's Republic of China.

The Drigung Khandro Sherab Tarchin was an important twentieth-century meditation master, whose life and activities bridged one of the most transformational periods in Tibetan history. In her early life, Sherab Tarchin was part of the last generation of women to pursue Buddhist training at the Drigung nuns' community of Terdrom prior to the disruptions of the Chinese Communist invasion and the Cultural Revolution. By her early twenties, Sherab Tarchin had become a refugee in India, where she went on to form connections with a range of influential Buddhist teachers and practitioners—chief among then Khunu Lama—and where she helped to nurture the flourishing of the Drigung tradition in exile.

Chodron Wangmo was the Eighth Dorje Pakmo, a line of female incarnations of the Bodong tradition based at Samding Monastery. She was the niece of the Tenth Zhamar and the Sixth Paṇchen Lama, who gave her Nenying Monastery in Gyantse. She received her novice vows from the Seventh Dalai Lama, as well as teachings from the Fifth Ganden Ritro Tulku, and the Fourth Jorra. She received the empowerment of nine Yamāntakas from the Panchen Lama and was invited to the Qing court by the Qianlong emperor, though it is unknown whether she actually visited China.

Tubten Choying Pelmo was the Eleventh Samding Dorje Pakmo, a female incarnation line based at Samding Monastery. She trained with Bodong masters and received renunciate vows from the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama stayed at Samding while fleeing the Manchu invasion of Lhasa in 1910, and again in 1912 upon his return to Tibet. During his second visit she received teachings and empowerments from him. In 1920 she was photographed by Rabten Lepcha, who visited Samding with Charles Bell. Bell also recorded his impressions of her in his book, The People of Tibet.

Ngawang Kunzang Dechen Wangmo was the Tenth Samding Dorje Pakmo, a female incarnation line based at Samding Monastery. Little is known about her life, save for a brief account by the Bengali scholar Sarat Chandra Das, to whom she gave medical treatment. She was entrusted as a protector of the Removal of All Obstacles, a revelation of Chokgyur Lingpa.