Prof. Ruwan Jayathilaka is a Professor at SLIIT Business School and the Head of the Department of Information Management. He previously served as the MBA Programme Coordinator. He has extensive experience working with leading international and national organisations, including UNICEF, the World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Migration, the Institute of Policy Studies, and the International Development Research Centre, contributing to policy-oriented research and development initiatives.

Prof. Jayathilaka has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in Scopus-indexed journals, with over 90% appearing in Q1-ranked outlets. His work is characterised by strong methodological expertise, particularly in the application of advanced econometric and data-driven analytical techniques.

His research focuses on global development challenges at the intersection of economic, environmental, and social systems, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, climate change, health and demographic dynamics, globalisation, and macroeconomic policy. His work is grounded in cross-country empirical analysis and is widely recognised for its policy relevance and empirical depth.

Prof. Jayathilaka has extensive lecturing experience in Applied Econometrics, Business Economics, Business Statistics, Business Research Practice, and Data Analysis at both state and private universities in Sri Lanka and Australia. He has also supervised postgraduate and undergraduate research across several institutions, with many projects leading to high-quality academic outputs. In addition, he has served as a resource person for numerous workshops on research methods and advanced data analysis organised by universities and government institutions in Sri Lanka.

• Ph.D. in Economics, Griffith University, Australia.
• MSSc (Economics), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
• MEcon (Distinction Pass), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• B.A. in Economics (Sp. Econometrics) First Class Honours, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• Dip in System Design, National Institute of Business Management, Sri Lanka.

• SLIIT Awards (2025): SLIIT Outstanding Overall Achievement Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2024.
• SLIIT Awards (2025): SLIIT Researcher of the Year Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2024.
• National Educator Award 2025 (Gold Award) for the outstanding achievement and contribution to the discipline of Social Sciences, 2025.
• Research Excellence Awards (2024): Special Research Excellence Award 2024: Special recognition for 13 highly rated scientific research publications in journals ranked in the Top 25% (Q1) of the Scopus CiteScore Index during 2024.
• Research Excellence Awards (2024): Special recognition for achieving 50+ citations in the Scopus Indexed Database and 200+ citations in the Google Scholar database during 2024.
• Research Excellence Awards (2024): Special recognition for 1 highly rated scientific research publication in a journal ranked in the Top 5% of the Scopus CiteScore Index during 2024.
• National Educator Award 2024 (Gold Award) for the outstanding achievement and contribution to the discipline of Business and Management, 2024.
• SLIIT Awards (2024): SLIIT Researcher of the Year Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2023.
• SLIIT Awards (2024): SLIIT Outstanding Teacher Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2023.
• Research Excellence Awards (2023): Special Research Excellence Award 2023: Special award recognition of 14 highly rated scientific research publications in the journals ranked in the Top 25% (Q1) of the Scopus Cite Score Index during the year 2023.
• Research Excellence Awards (2023): Special award recognitions for the 50+ citations in the Scopus Indexed Database and 200+ Google Scholar database during the year 2023.
• Research Excellence Awards (2023): Special award recognition of the 3 highly rated scientific research publications in the journals in the Top 10% of the Scopus Cite Score Index during the year 2023.
• National Educator Award 2023 (Silver Award) for the outstanding achievement and contribution to the discipline of Business and Management, 2023.
• SLIIT Awards (2023): SLIIT Outstanding Overall Achievement Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2022.
• SLIIT Awards (2023):SLIIT Outstanding Teacher Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2022.
• SLIIT Awards (2023):SLIIT Researcher of the Year Award (Senior) in recognition of the outstanding contribution made in 2022.
• Research Excellence Awards (2022): Seven highly rated scientific research publications - top 25% Scopus Cite score index (2022), SLIIT.
• Research Excellence Awards (2022): Merit award recognitions for the more than 100 citations in the Google Scholar database during the year 2022.
• Research Excellence Awards (2021): Special award recognition of the research performance - top 10% Scopus Cite score index (2021), SLIIT.
• Research Excellence Awards (2021): Two merit awards recognition of the research performance - top 25% Scopus Cite score index (2021), SLIIT.
• Research Excellence Awards (2021): Special award recognitions for the more than 50 citations in the Google Scholar database during the year 2021.
• Research Excellence Awards (2020): Two certificates for special recognition of the research performance - top 10% Scopus Cite score index (2020), SLIIT.
• Research Excellence Awards (2020): Two certificates for special recognition of the research performance - top 25% Scopus Cite score index (2020), SLIIT.
• Griffith Business School Top-Up Scholarships, Australia for Ph.D. program.
• Griffith University International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Australia for Ph.D. program.
• Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Australia for Ph.D. program.
• Asian Development Bank Scholarship, Singapore for MSSc program.
• President Scholarship for Children of Public Officers for Postgraduate Studies, President Office, Sri Lanka.
• Awarded Professor of Economics Gold Medal for Economics at the General Convocation 2004 of the University of Colombo for the overall best performance of the Department of Economics.
• Awarded M.W. Jayasuriya Memorial Prize for Economics at the General Convocation 2004 of the University of Colombo for the overall best performance of the Faculty of Arts.
• Awarded Neil Bandaranaike Memorial Prize for Economics at the General Convocation 2004 of the University of Colombo for the overall best performance of the Faculty of Arts.

• Managerial Decision Analysis
• Quantitative Data Analysis
• Business Forecasting
• Research Methodology
• Applied Econometrics

• Business Intelligence and Analytics
• Big Data
• Business Process Management
• Applied Research
• Circular economy
• Health and Well-Being
• Gender
• Poverty and Inequality
• Environmental management
• Tourism
• Renewable energy integration
• Environmental pollution control
• Disability
• Education
• Economic and Business Sustainability
• Digitalization

• Climate Change, Energy Transition, and Environmental Sustainability ( carbon emissions, energy transition, and climate dynamics)
• Global Health, Ageing, and Demographic Dynamics  (life expectancy, ageing, and non-communicable diseases)
• Poverty, Inequality, and Social Outcomes  (child labour, vulnerability, and socio-economic disparities)
• Globalisation, Trade, and Economic Growth  (trade openness, competitiveness, and structural transformation)
• Foreign Direct Investment and Macroeconomic Stability (FDI flows, economic uncertainty, and financial stability)
• Food Security and Agricultural Development (hunger, agricultural productivity, and sustainability)
• Digitalisation and Green Innovation (technology adoption and green transformation)
• Applied Econometrics and Causal Modelling