Felicitating Eminent Demographer, Professor K.A.P. Siddhisena

Prof. K.A.P. Siddhisena, Emeritus Professor of Demography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo retired in January, 2015 after completing a long and distinguished university career spanning over 37 years. Nearly for four decades, he held several eminent academic positions including the posts of Senior Professor, Professor, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer. He played a vital role in establishing the Department of Demography of the University of Colombo and was the founder Head of the Department of Demography. In addition to his academic positions, he also held several positions such as the Director of the Demographic Training and Research Unit (DTRU), the Director of Colombo University Community Extension Centre (CUCEC), Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Senior Student Counsellor and the President of the Faculty Centre of the University of Colombo and also as the Acting Chairman of the National Craft Council of the the Ministry of Industrial Policy.

After having his primary education at Lorenz College in Colombo, he had the privilege of completing his secondary education at Nalanda College and Ananda College, Colombo where he excelled in studies as well as other extracurricular activities. He holds a B.A. (Hons.) and B.Phil. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Colombo, Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Statistics from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, M.A. in Demography from the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Population Planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Professor Siddhisena is well known as one of the pioneers in the field of Demography and Population Studies in Sri Lanka. He was the Founder Secretary of the Population Association of Sri Lanka and was elected as its President for two terms.

During his university career, he disseminated his knowledge and experience through undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the University of Colombo and in many other national and foreign universities and institutes. As a visiting lecturer, he taught demography, research methodology/ data analysis, urban demography, demographic techniques and many other demographic subjects.

He is also well known as a scholarly researcher and expert in data analysis as his research experience spanned well over 25 years during which time he has conducted surveys and research in the areas in Social Sciences and Management Studies. His teaching and research work covered a broad range of topics, including fertility and mortality analysis, demographic techniques, theoretical population models and population projections, migration studies, population and development and population and health issues, urbanisation and urban development issues, manpower and labour force, social gerontology, statistical methods and research methodologies and quantitative data analysis.

He has well over 70 research papers and scholarly articles published in local and international journals and presented many scholarly papers at national and international seminars and conferences. Some of his major publications (author or co-author) include: The Sri Lankans of Great Britain, Migration and Settlement (APMJ), Socioeconomic implications of aging in Sri Lanka (Oxford Institute of Aging), Demographic Prognosis for South Asia: A Future of Rapid Aging (UN-ESCAP) andAPace of Its Own, The Demography ofAging in Sri Lanka (Journal of Population Aging, Springer, UK) etc.

His dissemination of knowledge on aging, elderly care, and population and development issues was evident from his participation at several international and local seminars/conferences and symposia. He has presented several papers on those themes at the International Congress onAging at Trivandrum, India, International Seminar on Population and Development in Beijin, China, UN-ESCAP International Conference at Jakarta, Indonesia, International Conference on Family Planning, Addis Abba, Ethiopia, SAARC Symposium at Islamabad, Pakistan, Seminar at the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, Canberra, A Research Colloquium and Workshop Series at School of the Environment, Flinders University, Adelaide and seminar at University of Liverpool, London.