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| Wednesday, 24 March 2004 |
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The Alumni Association of the University of Colombo is organising the inaugural Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Oration that will be delivered by Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe on "Are We Alone in the Universe? - A Socio-Scientific Analysis" on Wednesday March 31 at the BMICH. This Memorial Oration is organised in memory of one of the illustrious Past Presidents of the Alumni Association, the late Mrs. Sujata Jayawardena. Mrs. Jayawardena took over as President of the Association soon after the Universities were reopened in the early 90s. Under her stewardship, the Alumni Association set out to build closer and better relations between the University and its undergraduates by initiating many programs. Mrs. Jayawardena, realising that accommodation was a severe problem faced by undergraduates took up the challenge to build a five storeyed hostel complex in Buller's Lane, Colombo 7. What is unique about this project was that the funds were raised through the contributions of hundreds of donors, many of whom were friends and associates of the Late Mrs. Jayawardena. The five storeyed hostel complex was declared open in 1996 and now accommodates over 350 women undergraduates. After her demise in May 1998 the University of Colombo renamed the hostel as the Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Hostel Complex for Women Undergraduates, as a very special and lasting tribute to her. This inaugural oration will be delivered by Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe, a distinguished alumnus of the University of Ceylon who is specially flying in from Cardiff where he is the Director of the newly formed Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology. Prof. Wickramasinghe is acknowledged as being one of the world's leading experts on interstellar material. He has made many important contributions in this field publishing over 25 books, 350 papers in major scientific journals and over 75 in the high-impact journal Nature. In 1973 he was awarded Cambridge University's highest doctorate for Science, the prestigious D.Sc. In 1974 Prof. Wickramasinghe first proposed the theory that dust in interstellar space and in comets were largely organic, a theory that has now been vindicated. Jointly with the Late Sir Fred Hoyle Prof. Wickramasinghe was awarded the International Dag Hammerskjold Gold Medal for Science in 1996. He also was awarded the International Sahabdeen Prize for Science in 1996. In recognition of his extensive contributions to science and culture he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Soka University of Tokyo, Japan in 1996. Prof. Wickramasinghe's work on the Origins of Life and the theory of Panspermia is coming to be recognised as one of the most important developments in science in recent years. For more details, telephone 2368821. |
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