Professor Lakshman Ratnayake is the Chancellor and Chairman of SLIIT and a highly respected leader in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector. With over 45 years of experience, he has played a catalytic role in shaping engineering education and higher learning in the country.

His academic career spans across senior roles in private, state, and international universities. Before assuming duties as Chancellor, he served as Chairman and Senior Professor of Civil Engineering at SLIIT. Professor Ratnayake held several key positions at the University of Moratuwa, ultimately serving as Dean, Faculty of Engineering.

Internationally, he has held professorial appointments at the Universities of Calgary, Canada, and Utah State, USA. In recognition of his outstanding academic contributions, the University of Moratuwa conferred on him the title of Emeritus Professor in 2014.

Beyond academia, Professor Ratnayake has made visionary contributions to national policy and professional bodies. He served as Vice Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and was President of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL.) He also held the presidency of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT.)

Further demonstrating his commitment to higher education reform, he led two World Bank–funded higher education projects between 2004 and 2014.

• Lions Club International for the outstanding contribution he has made for education – March 2016

• Higher Education