President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Professor I.M. Karunathilake as the 20th Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, one of Sri Lanka’s oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions.
The official appointment letter was presented to Professor Karunathilake yesterday (May 23) at the Presidential Secretariat by Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
A trailblazer in the field of medical education, Professor Karunathilake holds the distinction of being the first Professor of Medical Education at the University of Colombo, where he has been a faculty member since June 2000. He is an alumnus of both the University of Colombo and the University of Dundee in Scotland, and a Senior Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Professor Karunathilake is internationally recognized for his contributions to medical education and has collaborated extensively with global organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH), and SEARAME.
Domestically, he has held several influential roles, including Secretary of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), founding President of the College of Medical Educationists (CME), and Vice President of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA). In 2021, he made history by becoming the first Sri Lankan to be unanimously elected as Secretary-General of APACPH.
With his appointment, Professor Karunathilake takes the helm of an institution originally established in 1921 as the University of Ceylon, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a global perspective to guide the University of Colombo into its next chapter.
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