Professor Lalith Gamage is the Vice Chancellor, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer of SLIIT, and the visionary leader behind its establishment as one of Sri Lanka’s premier higher education institutions. As the chief architect of SLIIT, he played a pivotal role in addressing the country’s growing demand for IT and technology graduates.

With an illustrious career spanning academia, technology, and national development, Professor Gamage has held leadership roles at the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Lanka Software Foundation (LSF), Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT), the ICT Cluster, and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board. He was the founding President of the Sri Lanka Association of Non-State Higher Education Institutes (SLANSHEI) and has served on the Advisory Board of the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM).

A pioneer in innovation, he led the establishment of Sri Lanka’s first technology incubator, Concept Nursery, which has nurtured numerous successful technology enterprises. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the ICT sector, he was awarded the Most Outstanding ICT Contributor of the Year at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2020.

Professor Gamage holds a degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Moratuwa and a PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Robotics, and Evolutionary Computing. Reflecting his global academic standing, he serves as an Affiliate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and as an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Australia.

• British Government Scholarship, 1986-87
• Commonwealth Science Council Fellowship, 1987
• University of British Columbia Research Assistantship – 1989 - 1993
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of British Columbia, 1993-1994
• Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Research Award, 1996 – 1999 Research: Monitoring and Prediction of Coastal Erosion Using Satellite Data
• The Outstanding Young Person of the year (TOYP) for Academic Leadership and Accomplishment, 2000
• The Most Outstanding ICT Contributor Award, National ICT Awards 2020, NBQSA, British Computer Society, Sri Lanka Chapter