New Vice Chancellor appointed at Horizon Campus
Horizon Campus, with their reputation for a strong research culture and results based education, recently appointed Prof.S.J.B.A.Jayasekara as their Vice Chancellor.
Prof.Jayasekara hails from a science/ agriculture background having completed his B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture with a 1st class, Specializing in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Agriculture, Lyallpur (Faizalabad), Pakistan and proceeding to read for his PhD in Agricultural Botany from the University of Reading, United Kingdom
He commenced his public service career, initially joining the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka as a Research officer, eventually joinng the Wayamba University as the Head, Dept. of the Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management, a position which he held at two different periods from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2008 to 2010.
He was appointed the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, from 2001 to 2007 and subsequently held the position of Head, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management of the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka August 2007 to 2008. He was also the Chair Professor of Horticulture for 22 long years from 1996 to 2017. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Wayamba University of Sri Lanka from January 2012 to May 2017 and retired from public service in April, 2018.’
In addition , Prof.Jayasekara has served as a Consultant to several FAO, UNDP, NORAD, JICA, ADB and World Bank projects during the past 35 years, as well as Serving as a Senior Research Fellow to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. He also served as a Consultant to the Chinese Cashew Research Institute, Hainan Province, China, during this period of time.
As an academic at Wayamba University, Prof.Jayasekara was a pioneer in developing a BSc degree program for the executives and managers in the plantation sector and also instrumental in developing and implementing a successful Cashew Research and Development Program for the first time in Sri Lanka. Eight new varieties were introduced to the cultivators through the projects initiated under pioneering efforts of Prof. Jayasekara.
Apart from his academic responsibilities, Prof.Jayasekara has also served as Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) in 2016, Chairman of the Review Committee appointed by the National Science and Technology Commission (NASTEC) for Rice Research and Development Institute, Batalagoda, Sri Lanka, (2017), Chairman of the Review Committee appointed by the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy for Sri Lanka Sugarcane Research Institute, Sri Lanka, (2018), and as Chairman and an International Expert in fourteen committees of quality assurance reviews of public and private universities in Bangladesh, carried out by the Bangladesh University Grants Commission
He has also been a Member, Research Committee, Sri Lanka Coconut Research Institute, Sri Lanka, Member of the Standing Committee for Distant Education and External Degrees, UGC/MoHE, Sri Lanka, Member of the Standing Committee for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Universities (SCQAA), UGC/MoHE, Sri Lanka.
Speaking about his appointment, Professor Jayasekara said: “It is a great honour and privilege to be selected as the Vice- Chancellor of Horizon Campus that has a record of brining value driven qualification programs to Sri Lankan students. I very much look forward to working, in partnership with staff and students, to build on the outstanding achievements of previous ViceChancellors.”
Mr.UpulDharanagama, Chairman, Horizon Campus commented“I am delighted to welcome Prof.Jayasekara as our new Vice-Chancellor. Prof:Jayasekara has a great reputation and experience of academic excellence and has held major strategic and leadership roles in higher education for a large number of years. I know that with his track record of extraordinary leadership and expertise, he will be an inspirational leader for our Campus.”