Kalupage Austin Fernando is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n civil servant and the current Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India. He had previously served as Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka,

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and Governor of the Eastern Province.

Early life and education

Fernando was educated at

Richmond College, Galle Richmond College ( si, රිච්මන්ඩ් විද්‍යාලය) is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka which was established as Galle High School in 1876. The founder of school was the Wesleyan Missionary George ...

. After school he joined the

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

from where he graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

degree. He later received a

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

degree from the

University of Sri Jayewardenepura ''Vijja Uppattam Setta'' , mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest , established = , undergrad = 14,750 , postgrad = 3560 , administrative_staff = 3950 , cit ...

Career

Fernando taught at Nagoda Royal National College for a period of time before joining the

Sri Lanka Administrative Service The Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පරිපාලන සේවය; śrī laṁkā paripālana sēvaya) is the key administrative service of the Government of Sri Lanka, with civil servants workin ...

(SLAS). He was Government Agent for

Polonnaruwa District Polonnaruwa District ( si, පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය; ta, பொலன்னறுவை மாவட்டம்) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of ...

and Nuwara Eliya District. He was later Commissioner of Cooperative Development and

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsibl ...

. He was then

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

at Ministry of Rehabilitation and Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Provincial Councils. He was a consultant to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

before being appointed

in December 2001. Newly elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

appointed Fernando as a presidential adviser on 15 January 2015. He was thereafter appointed Governor of Eastern Province on 27 January 2015. He resigned in order to become Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka on 1 July 2017 which he held till 5 July 2018.

Writings

Fernando is the author of ''My Belly is White: Reminiscences of a Peacetime Secretary of Defence''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Austin Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Alumni of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Government Agents (Sri Lanka) Governors of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India Living people Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Place of birth missing (living people) Sinhalese civil servants Sinhalese teachers Year of birth missing (living people)