Outgoing Sri Lankan Dean named Citizen of the Year in Calgary

CALIFORNIA: At the recent Calgary Awards (June 14 ) the Schulich School of Engineering (SSE) outgoing Dean, S.C. Wirasinghe was named the 2005 'Citizen of the Year' in the Community Achievement category. The Citizen of the Year is awarded to an outstanding individual Calgarian who has made a recent extraordinary contribution that has improved the quality of life in Calgary or whose recent achievements have brought recognition to Calgary.

Dr. S.C. (Chan) Wirasinghe spent 12 1/2 years as the Dean of the Schulich School of Engineering and was the longest serving Dean of the School. During his Deanship, Dr. Wirasinghe guided Engineering at the University of Calgary to new heights.

He oversaw the establishment of Oil & Gas and Software Engineering degree programs, the emergence of the Engineering Alumni Chapter, the creation of two new buildings (CCIT & ICT) come to fruition, the elevation of the School's research chairs and professorships from a 1/2 chair to the 30 plus currently in place, and enrollment has more than doubled under his tutelage.

Most notably, Dean Wirasinghe spearheaded the naming of the Faculty and saw the birth of the Schulich School of Engineering in spring of 2005 with a $50M donation. His initiatives and efforts have brought Engineering at the University of Calgary to the national and international stage.

Previous winners of the Citizen of the Year Award include Al Markin (2004) and Jack Perraton (1997).

Dr. S.C. (Chan) Wirasinghe obtained his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1968. Subsequently he won a US Fulbright Scholarship to study transportation engineering at the University of California at Berkeley where he completed his M.S. in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1976. He moved to the University of Calgary 1976 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and has been Dean of the Schulich School of Engineering since 1994.