List of University of Colombo people

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 and government

• J. R. Jayewardene – former President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
• Gotabaya Rajapaksa – former President of Sri Lanka
• Ranil Wickremesinghe – current President and former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Prominent figures in the independence movement

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

Legislators and political figures

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

Clergy and religious figures

• Cardinal Thomas Cooray, OMI – former Archbishop of Colombo; 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 (also listed in Diplomats)
• Deshamanya C.A. Coorey, SLAS – former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury
• 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
• Tissa Devendra – former Chairman of Public Service Commission; Chairman of Salaries Commission; first President of the Colombo University Alumni Association
• Hemasiri Fernando – 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; Vice-Chancellor of University of Peradeniya
• G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS – former Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of Defence and Foreign Affairs
• S.J. Walpita, CCS – former Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industries & Fisheries; Vice-Chancellor of University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
• Bradman Weerakoon, CCS – former Secretary to the Prime Minister

Diplomats

• T. D. S. A. Dissanayake – former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt
• Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS – former Sri Lankan diplomat
• 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
• Daya Perera, PC – former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada; Ambassador to the United Nations in New York
• Wickrema Weerasooria – former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation

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

• Sydney de Zoysa – former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Range II; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security; a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962
• C. C. Dissanayake – former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) and a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962
• S.A. Dissanayake – former Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Additional Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
• N. K. Illangakoon – current Inspector General of Police (IGP)

Academics

Vice Chancellors

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

Professors and scholars

• Professor Hithanadura Janaka De Silva – Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Kelaniya; Dean of Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya (Student Faculty of Medicine 1977-1982)
• Professor Nalin de Silva – professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya
• Professor Rangita de Silva de Alwis – adjunct professor of Global Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri – historian and Head of the Department of History, University of Colombo
• Professor Deshamanya J B Disanayake – professor and former Head of the Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo
• Professor Devaka Fernando – Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor Sheffield Hallam University (Student Faculty of Medicine 1976-1981 and Senior Lecturer in Medicine 1994-1996)
• Dr. Brendon Gooneratne – Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Parasitology, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
• Professor Yasmine Gooneratne – poet, short story writer and essayist
• Professor Shan Ratnam – Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University Hospital of Singapore
• Professor A. Suri Ratnapala – Professor of Law, T.C. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland
• Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra – playwright, novelist and poet
• Professor K. N. Seneviratne – Professor of Medicine; founder director of Sri Lanka's Postgraduate Institute of Medicine
• Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda – professor and former Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Colombo
• Dr Maitree Wickramasinghe – academic and senior lecturer at the Department of English of the University of Kelaniya
• Professor Nira Wickramasinghe – historian and Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands
• Dr Gihan Wikramanayake – Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Systems Engineering of the University of Colombo School of Computing

Artists

Novelists, poets and playwrights

• Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra – Sri Lanka's premier playwright

Actors

• Jackson Anthony – actor, director, singer
• Iranganie Serasinghe – actress

Visual artists

• Malaka Dewapriya – filmmaker, short film director, video artist, radio play writer

Judges

• Hon. Justice Saleem Marsoof – former Judge of the Supreme Court
• 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

Medicine

• Professor Hithanadura Janaka De Silva – Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Kelaniya, Dean Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya
• Professor Devaka Fernando – Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor, Sheffield Hallam University
• Dr Brendon Gooneratne – scholar and author
• Dr Charles Alwis Hewavitharana – independence activist
• Dr Richard Lionel Spittel, CMG, CBE – naturalist and author

Journalists

• Eva Ranaweera – feminist editor, poet and novelist
• Regi Siriwardena – journalist and writer

Sportsmen

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

Lawyers

• T.B. Dissanayake – former Commissioner of Assize
• Palitha Fernando, PC – current Attorney General of Sri Lanka and Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy

Engineers

• B.D Rampala – former Chief Mechanical Engineer and General Manager of the Ceylon Government Railway

Activists

• Rajini Thiranagama – human rights activist and feminist

Faculty

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