Commemoration of Professor J.N.O. Fernando
The commemoration of the 78th birth anniversary and 7th death anniversary of Emeritus Professor J.N.O. Fernando, who served as the first dean and rector of the College of Chemical Sciences, and past president of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon was held on March 2, 2022.
As a part of the series of events in this year’s commemoration, the first Prof. J.N.O. Fernando memorial inter level chemistry knowledge quiz was held on March 1 and 2. The level 4 team emerged champions of the competition and claimed a cash prize of Rs. 40,000 while the level 3 team became runners up and was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 20,000. Participant teams from levels 1 and 2 were also awarded cash prizes of Rs. 5,000 each. The certificates and cash prizes were awarded by Prof. S.A. Deraniyagala, President of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon.
The day was made more meaningful by the donation presented to the Apeksha Hospital Maharagama which was worth of about Rs 300,000 and donation of “meropen” a rare essential drug by the collective contributions made by the IchemC members, staff members and family members of Prof. J.N.O Fernando.
The proceedings of the commemoration ceremony started with the welcome speech given by Prof. S.A. Deraniyagala, President of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon. Dr. V. U. Rathnayake and Prof. Subramaniam Mohandas gave the commemoration speeches and shared their memories of Dr. R.O.B. Wijesekara and Prof. K. Balasubramaniam respectively. The highlight of the evening was the 7th Prof J.N.O Fernando memorial oration speech which was given by Dr. Sithy S. Iqbal on the topic “Diversity and Inclusivity in Science – An Impediment to Achieving Sustainability”. The evening ended with the garlanding the statue of late Prof. J.N.O Fernando.