Prof. (Dr) Dayantha Wijeyesekera marks Golden Jubilee in Academic and Professional Career
View(s):
Prof. (Dr) Dayantha Wijeyesekera marks 50 years in his Academic and Professional Career.
Having obtained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh (UoE), UK, in 1969, Prof. (Dr) Dayantha Wijeyesekera entered the Academic field that year at the UoE.
He continued his Academic field at Katubedda, initially, the Ceylon College of Technology, and then at the Katubedda Campus, which became the University of Moratuwa, ending up as its Vice Chancellor (VC) for 2 terms.
He was also VC, Open University of Sri Lanka, for 9 years, making an unprecedented total of 15 years as VC in 2 State Universities, and currently, is the Chancellor of the University of Vocational Technology.
He was conferred the National Honour of “Vidya Jyothi” by HE the President in 2005. As a winner of the TOP 10 award for Academic achievements, for those under 40, in 1981, was also awarded 3 other Honorary Doctorates from local and foreign universities, and the “Centenary Award of Excellence in Engineering” in 2006, by the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL).
Professionally, he obtained four FULL Professional Qualifications i.e. Fellowship of the Institution of Civil Engineers London (FICE), Fellowship of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (FIESL), Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Transport (FCIT), Fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences (FNAS).
He was also the Past President of IESL and former Chairman of the Sri Lanka branch of the CIT, UK, and of the ICE, UK, and its Sri Lanka Country Representative.
He has led International donor funded projects on Technical Education in Sri Lanka. On 3 occasions, each of 4 years, he was appointed Chairman of Tertiary & Vocational Education Commission (TVEC). In 2004, he was Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Skills Development, Vocational Training & Technical Education, when the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) framework was established and the University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) Act was enacted by Parliament.