Stanley Wijesundera was 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 ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. A

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, he was the first

vice chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

from 1979 to 1989 and was the chairman of the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...

from 1983 to 1984. He was born in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

, and 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 ( si, ධර්මරාජ විද්‍යාලය), founded in 1887, is a boys' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 300+ teaching staff and around 5000+ students. The school has many notable ...

and Ananda College. Entering the

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 Univer ...

he studied at both the Colombo campus and Peradeniya campus graduating with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

(Honours) in Chemistry. Going on to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

he gained his MSc and

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * 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 * Dalton State Col ...

and his PhD from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. On return to Ceylon he was appointed as a lecturer in the University of Ceylon, where he went on to become a professor of Chemistry, thereafter dean of the Faculty of Science and later was appointed as Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo when it was established as an Independent university after the disestablishment of

University of Sri Lanka The University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) was the public university system of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978. Est ...

. During the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection, Wijesundera came under pressure from elements of the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

(JVP) to shut down the university, which was steadfastly refused by him. This led to his assassination at the Library Room in the College House by members of the JVP on March 8, 1989. 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: si, උපාලි විජේවර්ධන) was a Sri Lankan business magnate. Considered one of the best-known entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, he had accumulated a net worth of ...

.Upali Wijewardhana and Ranil's nephew Shalitha the Basnayake Nilame of Kelaniya Temple
He was the Basnayake Nilame of the

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 Provin ...

. 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.

References

External links

14th death anniversary of Prof. Stanley Wijesundera, The mantle of leadership fell always on his shoulders

Tribute, Prof Stanley Wijesundera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wijesundera, Stanley Year of birth missing 1989 deaths Sri Lankan academic administrators Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Oxford Academic staff of the University of Colombo Assassinated Sri Lankan people Assassinated educators Academics from Kandy Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Vice-Chancellors of the University of Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Sinhalese academics Wijewardena family

See also

References

External links