Naren is a psychologist and higher education professional with over a decade of experience across academia, counseling, and educational leadership. Currently, he serves as an Assistant Professor and Head of the School of Psychology, contributing to two undergraduate psychology programs, a diploma program in Counseling and Psychotherapy, and the establishment of SLIIT’s first psychology lab for student-led experimental research. His research spans psychometrics, AI in education, public health, and socio-political psychology in Sri Lanka. He is the author of a textbook on R statistical computing for psychology undergraduates and has expertise in specialized statistical software such as SPSS, Jamovi, JASP, and R. He currently leads two research grants exploring generative AI in higher education and psychotherapy. Over the past 10 years, he has worked with prestigious universities, including University of Colombo, Liverpool John Moores University, Coventry University, the University of Northampton, and London Metropolitan University.

He holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from Management and Science University (Malaysia), an MSc in Applied Psychology from Coventry University (UK), an MS in Educational Leadership from Winona State University (USA), and a BA in Psychology from Winona State University (USA), with additional training from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Minnesota, and SEDA-accredited teaching credentials