# List of University of Colombo people

The following people spent time at the University of Colombo as either teaching staff or students.

## Heads of state and government

* J. R. Jayewardene – former President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
* Gotabaya Rajapaksa – former President of Sri Lanka
* Ranil Wickremesinghe – former President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

## Prominent figures in the independence movement

* Dr Charles Alwis Hewavitharana, FRCS – leader in the independence movement

## Legislators and political figures

* Hector Abhayavardhana – Trotskyist
* Professor Ranjith Bandara, Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka
* A. Amirthalingam – former Opposition leader, Member of Parliament and Tamil separatist
* Hon. Tissa Attanayake – former Cabinet Minister; former Member of Parliament
* Professor Sir Nicholas Attygalle, FRCS – former President of the Senate of Ceylon, Vice-Chancellor of University of Ceylon, Dean Faculty of Medicine & Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
* Hon. Ronnie De Mel, CCS – former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament
* Hon. William de Silva – former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament
* Deshamanya Neville Kanakeratne – former Governor of the Southern Province
* Hon. Anil Moonesinghe – former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament
* Senator Somasundaram Nadesan – former Senator
* Hon. Professor G. L. Peiris – former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament
* Hon. M. Sivasithamparam – former Deputy Speaker of Parliament
* Hon. Doctor Tissa Vitharana – current Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology and Member of Parliament
* Hon. Doctor Nissanka Wijeyeratne, CCS – former Cabinet Minister of Education, Higher Education and Justice; Member of Parliament; Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation; former Permanent Secretary; Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth

## Clergy and religious figures

* Cardinal Thomas Cooray, OMI – former Archbishop of Colombo; first Cardinal from Sri Lanka
* Rt.Revd. Dr. Lakshman Wickremasinghe – Bishop of Kurunegala; youngest bishop in the Church of England

## Civil servants

* Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, CCS – former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury, Ministry of Health (also listed in Diplomats)
* Deshamanya C.A. Coorey, SLAS – former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury
* Deshamanya Dr Gamani Corea – former Secretary-General of the UNCTD (1974–1984); Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs; Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon
* Tissa Devendra – former Chairman of Public Service Commission; Chairman of Salaries Commission; first President of the Colombo University Alumni Association
* Hemasiri Fernando – former Secretary to the Prime Minister
* Bernard Peiris, OBE, JP – former Cabinet Secretary
* M. J. Perera, CCS – first Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation; former Permanent Secretary of the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry; Vice-Chancellor of University of Peradeniya
* G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS – former Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of Defence and Foreign Affairs
* S.J. Walpita, CCS – former Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industries & Fisheries; Vice-Chancellor of University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
* Bradman Weerakoon, CCS – former Secretary to the Prime Minister

## Diplomats

* T. D. S. A. Dissanayake – former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt
* Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS – former Sri Lankan diplomat
* Deshamanya Dr Vernon Mendis, SLOS – former United Nations' Special Envoy to the Middle East, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Canada; Ambassador to USSR, Cuba and Secretary General of the Non Aligned Movement
* Daya Perera, PC – former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada; Ambassador to the United Nations in New York
* Wickrema Weerasooria – former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation

## Military

* General Deshamanya Sepala Attygalle, MVO, idc, psc, SLAC – former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977) and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence
* Major General Anton Muttukumaru – first Ceylonese Army officer to serve as Commander of the Ceylon Army
* Major General Dr. Chelliah Thurairaja, USP, SLMC – former Director Army Medical Services and Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps

## Police

* Sydney de Zoysa – former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Range II; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security; a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962
* C. C. Dissanayake – former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) and a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962
* S.A. Dissanayake – former Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Additional Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
* N. K. Illangakoon – current Inspector General of Police (IGP)

## Academics
### Vice Chancellors

* Professor Savitri Goonesekere – former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo
* Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama – current Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo
* Professor Vidya Jyothi V. K. Samaranayake – former Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo and founder of University of Colombo School of Computing
* Professor Stanley Wijesundera – former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo

### Professors and scholars

* Professor Hithanadura Janaka De Silva – Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Kelaniya; Dean of Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya (Student Faculty of Medicine 1977-1982)
* Professor Nalin de Silva – professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya
* Professor Rangita de Silva de Alwis – adjunct professor of Global Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
* Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri – historian and Head of the Department of History, University of Colombo
* Professor Deshamanya J B Disanayake – professor and former Head of the Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo
* Professor Devaka Fernando – Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor Sheffield Hallam University (Student Faculty of Medicine 1976-1981 and Senior Lecturer in Medicine 1994-1996)
* Dr. Brendon Gooneratne – Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Parasitology, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
* Professor Yasmine Gooneratne – poet, short story writer and essayist
* Professor Shan Ratnam – Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University Hospital of Singapore
* Professor A. Suri Ratnapala – Professor of Law, T.C. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland
* Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra – playwright, novelist and poet
* Professor K. N. Seneviratne – Professor of Medicine; founder director of Sri Lanka's Postgraduate Institute of Medicine
* Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda – professor and former Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Colombo
* Dr Maitree Wickramasinghe – academic and senior lecturer at the Department of English of the University of Kelaniya
* Professor Nira Wickramasinghe – historian and Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands
* Dr Gihan Wikramanayake – Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Systems Engineering of the University of Colombo School of Computing

## Artists
### Novelists, poets and playwrights

* Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra – Sri Lanka's premier playwright

### Actors

* Jackson Anthony – actor, director, singer
* Iranganie Serasinghe – actress

### Visual artists

* Malaka Dewapriya – filmmaker, short film director, video artist, radio play writer

## Judges

* Hon. Justice Saleem Marsoof – former Judge of the Supreme Court
* Hon. Justice Neville Samarakoon – former Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
* Sri Lankabhimanya Hon. Justice Christopher Weeramantry – former Judge of the International Court of Justice and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

## Medicine

* Hithanadura Janaka De Silva – Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Kelaniya, Dean Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya
* Devaka Fernando – Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor, Sheffield Hallam University
* Brendon Gooneratne – scholar and author
* Charles Alwis Hewavitharana – independence activist
* Richard Lionel Spittel, CMG, CBE – naturalist and author

## Journalists

* Eva Ranaweera – feminist editor, poet and novelist
* Regi Siriwardena – journalist and writer

## Sportsmen

* Brigadier Dr. H.I.K. Fernando – former Ceylon cricketer
* Lasantha Fernando – tennis champion and Davis Cup player
* Jehan Mubarak – cricketer
* Tambyah Murugaser – former Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket; Sri Lanka team manager
* Dr Ajith C. S. Perera – former test-match-panel senior cricket umpire; disability activist
* Mano Ponniah – former Ceylon cricketer and member of the Cambridge eleven
* Kumar Sangakkara – captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team

## Lawyers

* T.B. Dissanayake – former Commissioner of Assize
* Palitha Fernando, PC – current Attorney General of Sri Lanka and Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy

## Engineers

* B. D. Rampala – former chief mechanical engineer and general manager of the Ceylon Government Railway

## Activists

* Rajini Thiranagama – human rights activist and feminist

## Faculty

* Professor Sir Nicholas Attygalle
* Professor Sir Charles Irwin Ball
* Professor Nalin de Silva
* Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri
* Professor Deshamanya J B Disanayake
* Professor J B Disanayake
* Professor Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, AM
* Professor Savitri Goonesekere
* Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama
* Professor Kumari Jayawardena
* Professor Amal Jayawardane
* Professor Sir William Ivor Jennings
* Professor Kusuma Karunaratne
* Professor Sarath Kotagama
* Professor S.R. Kottegoda
* Professor Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera
* Professor Dharmasena Pathiraja
* Professor G. L. Peiris
* Professor Vidya Jyothi V. K. Samaranayake
* Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra
* Professor Anuradha Seneviratna
* Professor K. N. Seneviratne
* Professor Priyani Soysa
* Hedi Stadlen
* Professor Deepika Udagama
* Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda
* Professor Nira Wickramasinghe
* Professor Stanley Wijesundera