Indira Vasanti Samarasekera (née Arulpragasam; April 11, 1952) is the former president and former vice-chancellor of the
University of Alberta. She has been a member of the
Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which advises on appointments to the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...
, since 2016.
Biography
Samarasekera was born in
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 ...
,
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, ...
, of
Sri Lankan Tamil descent, and was married to a
Sinhalese, Sam Samarasekera and was divorced when her children were 7 and 3 years.
Education and career
Samarasekera received her B.Sc. in
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
from the
University of Sri Lanka in 1974 and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of California, Davis as a
Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
Scholar in 1976. In 1977, she immigrated to Canada, where she received her PhD in
Metallurgical Engineering at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
in 1980. That year, she began working in the Department of Metals and Materials Engineering at UBC with a focus on the continuous casting and hot rolling of steel. She was only the second woman appointed to the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Engineering.
In 2000, she was appointed UBC's vice-president of research. During her time in that role, the university's research funding from government, private donors and industry more than doubled, from $149 million to $377 million.
She succeeded Roderick Fraser as president and vice-chancellor of the
University of Alberta on July 1, 2005, and served two terms, ending June 30, 2015. She was the first female president of any university in
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
.
As of July 1, 2015, she was succeeded by
David Turpin as president of the
University of Alberta.
Awards and honorary degrees
In 1991, Samarasekera was awarded
NSERC's the E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship, an
award that recognizes promising young
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
researcher
Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...
s. In 2002, she was made an
Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
. In 2012, she received Canada's
Public Policy Forum Peter Lougheed award for leadership in public policy, and the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2014, she was named a Foreign Associate of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...
.
Samarasekera has received
honorary degrees from the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
,
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, the
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
,
Queen's University Belfast
The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
,
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...
and the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
.
In 2018 Samarasekera was awarded the
Bessemer Gold Medal by the
Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, an annual honour named after
Sir Henry Bessemer awarded for outstanding services to the steel industry.
Board and committee service
Samarasekera was appointed to the board of directors for
Scotiabank in 2008, and for
Magna International in 2014. She was appointed chair of the
Worldwide Universities Network
The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) is a non-profit consortium of 24 research-intensive universities founded in 2000. It provides financial and infrastructural support to member universities to support international research collaboration. ...
in 2012, serves on the CEO of the Year Advisory Committee and has served as both board member and chair of the
National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT).
Samarasekera is on the board of directors of
TC Energy, owner of the
Keystone Pipeline
The Keystone Pipeline System is an Pipeline transport, oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010, formerly owned by TC Energy. It is now owned by South Bow, following TC Energy's spin off of its liquids business i ...
, appointed in 2016.
She has served as a member of Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC), the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service, the Conference Board of Canada and the
Public Policy Forum.
From 2010 to 2012, she attended the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
in
Davos and has participated as either a speaker or a moderator.
Public profile
In July 2009, the University of Alberta purchased Samarasekera's private residence for $930,000, representing approximately $180,000 profit for Samarasekera, and the home was renovated by the university.
University administration was criticized by some for the initiative, given budget shortfalls at the time. Brian Heidecker, chair of the University of Alberta's Board of Governors, said the purchase gave the university a strategic advantage, noting that the residence would serve as a strong inducement when recruiting future presidents. Samarasekera continues to live at the home and pays rent based on fair market value.
In an interview with the ''
Edmonton Journal
The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network.
History
The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...
'' on October 21, 2009, Samarasekera raised her concerns regarding the fact that 58% of university undergraduates in Canada were female. She commented, "I'm going to be an advocate for young white men, because I can be. No one is going to question me when I say we have a problem", and "We'll wake up in 20 years and we will not have the benefit of enough male talent at the heads of companies and elsewhere." A group of students responded by putting up posters satirizing her comments. Campus Security took down the posters within 24 hours and warned the students responsible of possible disciplinary action." Samaraskera responded by noting that she appreciated satire as a form of freedom of speech, but hoped that such debate be held in a cordial and respectable manner.
In the wake of deep government cuts to the cuts to the Alberta post-secondary sector in 2013, debate ensued on and off campus as to how the university should respond. Samarasekara undertook to limit her international travel. However, when invited by Alberta Premier Alison Redford, she travelled to China in September 2013 at a cost of $13,800. Responding to criticism, Samarasekara stated "people will find reasons to criticize me whichever way I do it."
References
Sources
University of Alberta bio informationRising Up Against Rankings by Indira Samaasekera ''
Inside Higher Ed
''Inside Higher Ed'' is an American online publication of news, opinion, resources, events and jobs in the higher education sphere. In 2022, Quad Partners, a private equity firm, sold it to Times Higher Education, itself owned by Inflexion Priv ...
,'' April 2, 2007.
*http://scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,1608,CID12292_LIDen,00.html
*https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/u-of-a-students-could-face-new-570-fee-1.924947
*https://web.archive.org/web/20100226022300/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/administrators+face+furloughs+salary+cuts/2333907/story.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samarasekera, Indira
1952 births
Living people
Canadian mechanical engineers
Canadian women engineers
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Officers of the Order of Canada
Presidents of the University of Alberta
Alumni of the University of Sri Lanka (Peradeniya)
University of California, Davis alumni
Sri Lankan women engineers
Directors of Scotiabank
Canadian corporate directors
Canadian women in business
University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science alumni
Canadian university and college chief executives
Alumni of Ladies' College, Colombo
Sinhalese people
Sri Lankan engineers
Alumni of the University of Sri Lanka
People from Colombo
Canadian academic administrators
Canadian women academics
20th-century Canadian scientists
21st-century Canadian scientists
20th-century Sri Lankan people
21st-century Sri Lankan people
21st-century women engineers
20th-century women engineers
Women heads of universities and colleges
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering
Sri Lankan emigrants to Canada
Bessemer Gold Medal
20th-century Canadian women scientists
21st-century Canadian women scientists