List of University of Colombo people

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

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Heads of State & Government

• President J.R. Jayawardene - former President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
• Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe, MP - former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and current Leader of the Opposition.

Prominent figures in the Independence Movement

• Dr Charles Alwis Hewavitharana, FRCS - leader in the independence movement

Legislators and political figures

• 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
• Deshamanya Neville Kanakeratne - former Governor of the Southern Province
• Hon. Dr Nissanka Wijeyeratne, CCS - former Cabinet Minister of Education, Higher Education and Justice, Member of Parliament, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation, a former Permanent Secretary & Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth.
• Senator Somasundaram Nadesan - former Senator
• Hon. Anil Moonesinghe - former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament.
• Hon. Ronnie De Mel, CCS - former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament.
• Hon. Prof G. L. Peiris - former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament.
• Hon. Dr Tissa Vitharana - current Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology and Member of Parliament.
• Hon. William de Silva - former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament.
• Hon. Tissa Attanayake - former Cabinet Minister and current Member of Parliament.
• Hon. M. Sivasithamparam - former Deputy Speaker of Parliament
• A. Amirthalingam - former Opposition leader, Member of Parliament and Tamil separatist
• Hector Abhayavardhana - Trotskyist

Clergy and religious figures

• Cardinal Thomas Cooray, OMI - former Archbishop of Colombo and the 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 (note: - Also listed in Diplomats)
• 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
• Rajendra Coomaraswamy, CCS - former Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of the UNDP and President Colombo Plan Council.
• G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS - former Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of Defence and Foreign Affairs
• Deshamanya C.A. Coorey, SLAS - former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury
• S.J. Walpita, CCS - former Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industries & Fisheries and Vice-Chancellor of University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
• Bradman Weerakoon, CCS - 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 and Vice-Chancellor of University of Peradeniya
• Hemasiri Fernando - former Secretary to the Prime Minister

Diplomats

• 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
• Gamini Seneviratne, SLOS - former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand and the Republic of Korea
• Ahmed Aflal Jawad, SLOS - Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and former Ambassador to Norway
• Wickrema Weerasooria - former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand & Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation
• Daya Perera, PC - former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to the United Nations in New York
• T. D. S. A. Dissanayake - former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt
• Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS - former Sri Lankan diplomat

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

• S.A. Dissanayake - former Inspector General of Police (IGP) & Additional Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
• C. C. Dissanayake - former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) and a leader of the Attempted military coup in 1962
• Sydney de Zoysa - former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Range II, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security and a leader of the Attempted military coup in 1962

Academics

Vice Chancellors

• Professor Stanley Wijesundera - former 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 Savitri Goonesekere - former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo
• Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama - current Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo

Professors and scholars

• Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra - playwright, novelist and poet
• Professor A. Suri Ratnapala - Professor of Law, T.C. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland
• Professor K. N. Seneviratne - Professor of Medicine and founder director of Sri Lanka's Postgraduate Institute of Medicine
• Professor Shan Ratnam - Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University Hospital of Singapore
• Professor Nalin de Silva - Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya
• Professor Deshamanya J B Disanayake - Professor and former Head of the Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo
• Professor Nira Wickramasinghe-Historian and Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands
• Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda-Professor and former Head of the Department of political science, University of Colombo
• Dr. Brendon Gooneratne - Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Parasitology, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
• Dr Gihan Wikramanayake - Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Systems Engineering of the University of Colombo School of Computing.
• Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri- Historian and Head of the Department of History, University of Colombo
• Dr Maitree Wickramasinghe - academic and senior lecturer at the Department of English of the University of Kelaniya
• Mr. R. Srikanthan, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Geography, University of Colombo

Artist

Novelists, poets and playwrights

• Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra - Sri Lanka's premier playwright.

Actors

• Jackson Anthony - Sri Lankan actor, director, singer
• Iranganie Serasinghe- Sri Lankan actress
• Bandula withange - Sri Lankan actor ,director ,script writer

Visual artists

• Malaka Dewapriya- Short film and video director

Judges

• 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
• Hon. Justice Saleem Marsoof - former Judge of the Supreme Court
• Hon. Justice Nihal Jayasinghe - former Judge of the Supreme Court

Medicine

• Dr Charles Alwis Hewavitharana - Independence activist
• Dr Richard Lionel Spittel, CMG, CBE - Naturalist and author
• Dr Brendon Gooneratne - Scholar and author

Journalist

• Regi Siriwardena - journalist and writer

Sportsmen

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

Lawyers

• T.B. Dissanayake - former Commissioner of Assize

Engineers

• B.D Rampala - former Chief Mechanical Engineer and General Manager Ceylon Government Railway

Activists

• Rajini Thiranagama - human rights activist and feminist

Faculty

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