Gladys Jayawardene (died September 12, 1989) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. She was the first female Director of the Medical Research Institute and Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation. Educated at C.M.S. Ladies' College, Colombo, she graduated from the Colombo Medical College and gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

as the first Sri Lankan female to do so.Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka
/ref> Joining the Ceylon Medical Service after graduation she transferred to the Medical Research Institute and went on to become its first female Director in the 1980s and in 1988 was appointed Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC). During her tenure the SPC began manufacturing Oral Rehydration Salts “Jeevanee” based on a formula approved by the

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

which had been imported before.A pioneer in epidemiological work
/ref> With the onset of the 1987–1989 JVP Insurrection, Dr Jayawardene was threatened by the JVP to stop imports of medicines from India due to their Anti-Indian policy. She refused to be intimidated and was assassinated by the JVP on September 12, 1989, suspected JVP gunmen at Slave Island,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. She married Dr Roland "Roly" Jayawardene, a medical doctor and brother of J. R. Jayewardene. She was the President of the Ladies’ College Old Girls’ Association in 1973–1974. The Gladys Jayawardene Gold Medal for Parasitology is awarded annually by the

Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo ttps://med.cmb.ac.lk Faculty of Medicine - University of Colombo Official Website Established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, is the second oldest medical school in South Asia. It is c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayawardene, Gladys Year of birth missing 1989 deaths Sri Lankan academics Sinhalese people Sri Lankan medical doctors Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Ladies' College, Colombo Assassinated Sri Lankan people Deaths by car bomb in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan women academics Sri Lankan academic administrators Women physicians 20th-century women scientists

See also

References