Prof Amaratunge

Prof Amaratunge was appointed to the Board in October 2016. He holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and a MA in Economics from the University of Colombo. He also holds an MSc in Economics of Rural Development from the Saga National University and a PhD from Kogoshima National University in Japan. He was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura twice and was the Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce. Prof Amaratunge counts over 25 years as an academic at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He has published more than 75 articles in international and national refereed journals and proceedings.

He was appointed as the Chairman of the University Grants Commission by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka with effect from the 3 January 2020. As of year 2019, he was appointed the Chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors Sri Lanka (CVCD) for the year 2019. Prof Amaratunge was also a recipient of the prestigious Research Excellence Award 2002, awarded by the Kyushu Society of Rural Economics, Japan. He is an expert in the field of Economics with special reference to Rural Development. From 2012 to 2014, Prof Amaratunge served as a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka and several other commissions. He was the youngest professor ever appointed to the UGC. Prof Amaratunge was the Chairman of the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) of Sri Lanka from 2009 to 2012 and holds directorships in two other listed corporates as well.