K. Kunaratnam

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

K. Kunaratnam

FRAS CPhys FInstP
Born(1934-04-30)30 April 1934
Erlalai, Sri Lanka
Died9 September 2015(2015-09-09) (aged 81)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Education Union College, Tellippalai [1]
Alma mater University of Ceylon, Colombo
Imperial College London
OccupationAcademic
Title Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
TermApril 1994 – February 1997
Predecessor A. Thurairajah
Successor P. Balasundarampillai

Kanthia Kunaratnam (30 April 1934 – 9 September 2015) was a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, academic and former vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna. [2]

Contents

Early life

Kunaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1954 and graduated in 1958 with a first class honours B.Sc. degree in physics. [3]

Career

After university Kunaratnam worked at the University of Ceylon, Colombo and University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. [3] He studied at Imperial College London between October 1960 and July 1963, obtaining a DIC and a PhD degree. [3]

Kunaratnam was visiting fellow and lecturer in geophysics at the Department of Geology, University of Durham between January 1971 and September 1971. [3] He was visiting fellow at the Department of Physics, Queen Elizabeth College from October 1971 to December 1971. [3]

Kunaratnam was appointed Founder Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Sri Lanka Jaffna campus in April 1975. [4] He remained head of the department until October 1980. [4] He was visiting lecturer at the School of Physics, University of Science, Malaysia between Jan 1981 and October 1981. [3] He then returned to the University of Jaffna and resumed being Head of the Department of Physics, serving until February 1985. [4] He was visiting fellow and professor at the Department of Geophysics, University of Edinburgh between October 1988 and August 1989. [3] He was visiting fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge between Sept 1989 and October 1989. [3]

Kunaratnam was Head of the Department of Computer Science at the university between January 1991 and November 1993. [5] He then served as Head of the Department of Physics from March 1994 and April 1994. [4]

Kunaratnam served as dean of the Faculty of Science twice, from January 1977 to May 1978 and January 1985 to March 1988. [6] He served as vice-chancellor of the university between April 1994 and February 1997. [7] Kunaratnam retired in April 2000. [3] He served as an emeritus professor at the Department of Physics till his death. [8] [9]

Kunaratnam was elected fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1998 and fellow and chartered Physicist of the Institute of Physics in 1999. [3] He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Jaffna in 2001. [3] He published several papers in scientific journals on magnetic anomalies in earth magnetic field. [10]

Kunaratnam died on 9 September 2015 in Colombo. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaffna Hindu College</span> Public national school in Jaffna, Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka

Jaffna Hindu College is a national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1886 by a group of Hindu people who wanted an English language alternative to the Christian missionary schools.

Professor Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole is a Sri Lankan Tamil engineer and academic. He was a member of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka.

Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby was a Sri Lankan Tamil literary historian, author and academic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V. K. Samaranayake</span> Sri Lankan computer scientist (1939–2007)

Vidya Jyothi V. K. Samaranayake, MBCS, MCS(SL), FNASSL, MIEEE (Sinhala:වී.කේ.සමරනායක) pioneered computing & IT development industry and usage in Sri Lanka and thus considered as the "Father of Information Technology" in Sri Lanka. He was a Professor of Computer Science and former Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. Prof Samaranayake played a major role in the development of IT and IT related education in Sri Lanka. He was at the time of his death the chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka and was the founding and former director of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Nadaraja</span> Sri Lankan academic, lawyer and author

Professor Thambiah Nadaraja was a Sri Lankan academic, lawyer and author. He was dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ceylon and chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Jaffna</span> University in Jaffna Sri Lanka

The University of Jaffna is a public university in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Established in 1974 as the sixth campus of the University of Sri Lanka, it became an independent, autonomous university in 1979.

Gihan Nilendra Wikramanayake, FBCS, CITP was a Sri Lankan academic. He was a Senior Professor in Computer Science and attached to the Department of Information Systems Engineering. He was the Director of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) from 24 May 2010 to 31 May 2016. He was the Head of the Department of Information Systems Engineering from September 2002 to September 2005. He also served as the deputy director of the UCSC from 2003 to 2006.

Vidya Jyothi Mohamed Hussain Rezvi Sheriff, FRCP (Lon), FRCPE (Edin), FRACP, FCCP, FSLCGP, FNASSL is a Sri Lankan academic, nephrologist and physician. He served as the director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine; senior professor of medicine; head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. He is currently serving as the Senior Professor of Medicine at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. He is also a consultant physician and nephrologist at National Hospital Sri Lanka. He is widely regarded as the Father of Nephrology or either hailed as Father of Modern Nephrology and Dialysis. He masterminded and pioneered kidney transplantation in Sri Lanka. He is also the founder and owner of Western Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. D. Arulpragasam</span>

Professor Kandiah David Arulpragasam was a Sri Lankan Tamil academic. He was the first vice-chancellor of Eastern University, Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. Thurairajah</span> Sri Lankan Tamil academic (1934–1994)

Alagiah Thurairajah was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil academic and vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Somasekaram</span>

Sri Lanka Sikhamani Thamotharam Somasekaram was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil geographer and Surveyor General.

Velupillai Appapillai was a Sri Lankan physicist and academic. He was the dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. W. Mailvaganam</span>

Vidya Jyothi Arumugam Wisvalingam Mailvaganam, OBE was a leading Ceylon Tamil physicist, academic and the dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Ceylon.

Rajaratnam Kumaravadivel is a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, Emeritus professor, former dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna and former acting vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

Professor Sivasubramaniam Pathmanathan is a Sri Lankan Tamil historian, academic, author and current chancellor of the University of Jaffna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Fonseka</span> Sri Lankan physician, academic, and political activist (1933–2019)

Carlo Fonseka was a Sri Lankan physician, academic and political activist. He was a former dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and a former president of the Sri Lanka Medical Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valentine Joseph</span> Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician

Valentine Joseph was a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, noted for his contributions to education.

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary | Prof K. Kunaratnam". onlineuthayan.com | Wayback Machine . 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Kay, Benjamin; Bootman, Cara (1999). Who's who in Asia and the Pacific Nations. ISBN   9780948875632.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Prof.K.Kunaratnam". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "History". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Heads of the Department". Department of Computer Science, University of Jaffna.
  6. ↑ "Dean's Office". Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Establishment of the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008.
  8. ↑ "Academic Staff". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Citations of Prof.K.Kunaratnam's thesis work". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Author: KUNARATNAM, K". Wiley Online Library. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "Emeritus Professor Kanthia Kunaratnam". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Former VC of Jaffna University Professor Kunaratnam passes away in Colombo". Tamil Diplomat. 9 September 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.