Prof. Lakmini Vajira Kumari Jayatilake has bagged Best Academician of the Year

Prof. Lakmini Vajira Kumari Jayatilake has bagged Best Academician of the Year

• October 26, 2021

University of Kelaniya. 

The University of Kelaniya has its origin in the historic Vidyalankara Pirivena which was founded in 1875. Since then, it has been recognized as one of the two great national centers of traditional higher learning of the country. Then, in 1959, the Vidyalankara Pirivena became the Vidyalankara University. Later with the university reforms it was converted to a campus named the Vidyalankara Campus of the single university, University of Ceylon, and ultimately in 1978, it was named as the University of Kelaniya, again, as a separate university. Now, the University of Kelaniya is well recognized as one of the greatest seats of learning in the South Asian region. 

Vision of the University is to become a Centre of excellence in creation and dissemination of knowledge for sustainable development. Mission of the University is to nurture intellectual citizens through creativity and innovation, who contribute to national development. Goals of the University are to create a high quality and flexibility teaching and learning environment, to develop the highest quality faculty and staff to attain the strategy goals of the university, to create a multi-disciplinary research culture of global standing, to improve the image of the university by widening the range of economic and social engagement and to develop an excellent system of governance through the efficient and effective administration and financial management.

The University of Kelaniya is located just outside the municipal limits of the Colombo city, in the ancient and historic city of Kelaniya, on the north bank of the Kelani River, and has the unique advantage of being located in between the two largest ‘Free Trade Zones’ established in Sri Lanka.

The University of Kelaniya has seven faculties and two Institutions. The seven faculties, which form the main body of the University are: Faculty of Commerce & Management Studies, Faculty of Computing and Technology, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social Sciences.

The two Institutes affiliated to the University of Kelaniya are: The Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies (PGIPBS); Colombo, and the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR); Colombo. 

Prof. Lakmini Vajira Kumari Jayatilake

I, Prof. Lakmini Vajira Kumari Jayatilake, is currently working as a professor in the Department of Commerce and Financial Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

I obtained my Bachelor of Commerce (Special) 1st Class (Honors) Degree from the University of Kelaniya and then obtained my Postgraduate Diploma in Business Statistics from the University of Ruhuna. I earned my Master of Philosophy (Economics) Degree from the University of Ruhuna and received Master of Business Administration Degree from the Asia e University in Malaysia and then obtained Doctor of Philosophy (Management) from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. I have special training in the Professional Development Programme on Financial Management, Accounting, Planning and Projection in Asia Institute of Technology in Thailand.

In March 1996, I joined the University of Kelaniya as a Lecturer (Probationary) in the Department of Commerce and Financial Management. By February 2017, I was promoted as a Professor in Management.

During my 25 years of academic life, I contributed to the department as the Coordinator of Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree and currently working as a Coordinator of Higher Diploma in Business Programme. I have Provided my volunteer service to the university as an Academic Warden of the girls hostels and Student Counselor.

My teaching and research interests are in the field of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour. So far, I have conducted a large number of studies and presented findings of those studies in more than 22 international conferences, 23 undergraduate symposia and published 41 journal articles, most of them in indexed Journals. Further, I have written one book and one book chapter.

I provided my service as a member of editorial adversary boards and member of editorial boards including Journal of Management, Journal of Business and Technology and Journal of Insurance and finance. I also worked as a reviewer and as a session chair of the international and national conferences.

Further, I am providing my service as a supervisor of the Doctoral Thesis at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. In addition, I provide thesis supervision for master degrees including Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM) and Master of Commerce (M. Com) in University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Under my guidance, more than 30 postgraduates completed their postgraduate thesis.

Further I received Senate Honours for conducting high quality research and publication in International Indexed Journals. In addition, I became the Most Outstanding Researcher (First Place) in the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka in 2017. At present, I hold 128 google scholar citations including 6 h indexes.

During my career, I have never received an international accolade of this order. When I first found out that I am being bestowed with the women icon award handed out for the best academician of the year, it truly came as a wonderful surprise to me. I feel very delighted and privileged to have received this prestigious award.