Tam Wai Lun is a Research Professor and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the director of the taught master's programme in Buddhist Studies. He received his master's and doctoral degrees in Chinese Buddhism from McMaster University in Canada.

Professor Tam has been conducting research on Chinese local religion and society, as well as Chinese popular Buddhism, through extensive fieldwork funded by external competitive grants. These include the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. He also received funding from the Hong Kong Sik Sik Yuen to study Daoist remnants and local society in cave temples along the Silk Road, Daoism in Dunhuang, and the rituals of the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong. The Fei Ngan Tung Buddhism & Taoism Society has also provided him with funding to research ritual, religion, and Chinese society.

He has published and edited 14 books, authored more than 60 academic journal articles and book chapters, presented over 80 conference papers, and organised more than 18 international conferences. Professor Tam currently serves as an Academic Specialist in the Arts Division of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications. He served as the Department Chair from 2014 to 2020 and was a member of the Faculty Academic Personnel Committee from 2020 to 2024 while he was a professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Professor Tam initiated several key programmes and centres for the Department, including the Scheme of Professorship in Indian Religions and Culture (2007-2024), the Centre for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilisation (2014-2024), the Centre for the Study of Islamic Culture, the Centre for Catholic Studies, and the Faculty's Centre for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism. He continues to serve as an executive member or advisor for these centres.

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