HONG KONG — Robert Y.C. Ho, a scion of a historic Hong Kong family, is the chairman of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, which supports study in the fields of Buddhism, Chinese art and culture. The charity is named after Mr. Ho’s father, who founded it in 2005.

It has given endowments for Buddhist programs at Harvard University, Stanford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In May, it gave a $1.9 million grant to the American Council of Learned Societies for the research and teaching of Buddhist studies.

Why did your father decide to focus on Buddhism?

Buddhism was easier because his grandmother, Lady Clara, set up a temple in Hong Kong, Tung Lin Kok Yuen, in 1935 — it later grew to two charity organizations, in Hong Kong and Canada — and there’s a school associated with it. So Buddhism has been part of the family.

We also support Chinese art and culture because my father, who grew up in Hong Kong, appreciates Chinese arts — classical, traditional and contemporary.