Stanley Wijesundera (6 December 1923 – 8 March 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, ...
n academic. He served as the first
Vice chancellor
A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...
of the
University of Colombo
The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...
from 1979 to 1988. A
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
, he was the chairman of the
Association of Commonwealth Universities
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.JVP hitmen during the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection.
Early life and education
Born in
Kandy
Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...
, He was educated at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Dharmaraja College
Dharmaraja College (), founded in 1887, is a boys' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 300+ teaching staff and over 4,000+ students.
A land area of is owned by the school spreading over half of the Dharmaraja hill ...
University of Ceylon
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 Univ ...
he studied at both the Colombo campus and Peradeniya campus graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry. Going on to 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 ...
DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to:
Education
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
* District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India
* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Educational institutions
* Dyal Sin ...
and his
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 ...
from the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
.
Academic career
On return to Ceylon he was appointed as a lecturer in the University of Ceylon, where he served in both Peradeniya and Colombo in various capacities from 1948 to 1977 as Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Associate Professor and also on various commit-tees both academic and administrative.
He Served as a member of the University Senate from 1970 to 1978. He become a Professor at the Department of
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
becoming the Chair of the Department in 1978. Thereafter he become the Dean of the Faculty of Science and later was appointed as the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo in January, 1979, when it was established as an Independent university after the disestablishment of
University of Sri Lanka
The University of Sri Lanka (, ) was the public university system of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978. The university system was dissolved in 1978 and its six campuses turned into independent universities: the University of Peradeniya, the University o ...
. He served as the chairman of the
Association of Commonwealth Universities
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 400 member institutions in over 40 countries across the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth.G. L. Peiris
Gamini Lakshman Peiris (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ගාමීණි ලක්ෂ්මණ් පීරිස්, Tamil language, Tamil: காமினி லக்ஷ்மன் பீரிஸ்) (born 13 August 1946) is a Sri Lankan poli ...
. He was given his own office at the College House after he left office to continue his researches.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...
(JVP) to shut down the university. Wijesundera steadfastly refused the demand. This led to his assassination at the Library Room in the College House by members of the JVP on 8 March 1989.
Personal life
He was married the daughter of Walter Wijewardena and was the brother-in-law of the
Upali Wijewardene
Philip Upali Wijewardene (17 February 1938 – 13 February 1983: ) was a Sri Lankan business magnate and entrepreneur. In 1983, Wijewardene had a net worth of US $50 million. He was the founder and chairman of Upali Group, the first multi-nation ...
Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. It is located north-east of Colombo. The current chief incumbent (chief priest) is Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera.
The ...
, a post later taken up by his son Shalitha Wijesundara, former chairman of the Sri Lanka Airports Authority and current Provincial Councilor,
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
*Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provinc ...
. His youngest daughter Lakmini WIjesundera, founder and CEO of BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies is the Entrepreneur of the Year in Sri Lanka for three consecutive years since 2015 and has been the first Ernst & Young EY Winning Woman to represent Sri Lanka.
Legacy
According to many Scholars and Academics, Wijesundera was instrumental in transforming the University of Colombo to a Metropolitan Campus. At the time of his assassination in March 1989, he had already initiated the transformation of the university education system. Although his loss created an irreplaceable void, his family, associates and fellow academics have made great efforts to take his legacy forward.
As a Tribute to the incredible legacy of him, Professor Stanley Wijesundera Memorial Lecture was started in 2007 led by Prof. Kamani Tennakoon and Prof. Eric Karunanayake and it is carried out annually.
On 10 December 2023, To mark his 100 year birth anniversary a commemorative first day cover and stamp was issued by the
Postmaster General of Sri Lanka
The Postmaster General of Sri Lanka is the appointed head of Sri Lanka Post, which is a government department. The current Postmaster General is Ranjith Ariyaratne.
History
The first mail service in Ceylon, was in 1788, established by the Dutc ...
, S.Sathkumara at a special function organized at the
Temple Trees
Temple Trees is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Several recent presidents have used it as their official residence as well.
History Private residence
The history of ''Temple Tree ...
. The event was presided by President
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...
, family and friends of Prof. Wijesundera and several other dignitaries.
Gladys Jayawardene
Gladys Jayawardene (died September 12, 1989) was a Sri Lankan Physician and academic. 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, ...