Vidya Jothi Prof Cyril Ponnaperuma honoured with Stamp, 1st Day Cover
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After 3 decades, Vidya Jothi Prof Cyril Ponnaperuma, who led the Moon Soil Analysis Laboratory at NASA, under the Apollo Space Mission, was honoured with a Postage Stamp at the 2018 Annual Review Sessions of the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS), held at the IFS Auditorium.
Prof Ponnaperuma was born in Galle, and his involvement in Sri Lanka’s Scieitific sphere began in 1984, when he was appointed Science Advisor to former President J.R. Jayawardene. He was appointed IFS Director, where he was instrumental in setting up a permanent home for the IFS, at Hantanne. He built a modern Laboratory complex to pursue basic Research to improve the Fundamental understanding of Science across the broader community, while training graduates to take on academic leadership in the county.
In recognition of his services to Sri Lanka, he was conferred the Vidya Jothi. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at Berkeley Laboratories USA, From 1951, until his demise, he served at the University of Maryland, College Perk, as a distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, as well as Director of the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution.
He also served as a distinguished Professor at the Soviet Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Among the awards Professor Ponnaperuma received was the “Alexander Oparin Gold Medal” for the best sustained programme on the origin of life, awarded by the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. He was the first Director of the Arthur C. Clark Centre for Modern Technologies in Sri Lanka.
The 1st Day Cover is valued at Rs 15 and was issued by the Philatelic Bureau Director Shantha Kumar Meegamuwa, and presented to the IFS Director by the Deputy Post Master General Ms Chamisga de Silva.