K. Kunaratnam

Kanthia Kunaratnam (30 April 1934 – 9 September 2015) was a Sri Lankan Tamil physicist, academic and former vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna.[2]

Professor

K. Kunaratnam

FRAS CPhys FInstP
Born(1934-04-30)30 April 1934
Erlalai, Sri Lanka
Died9 September 2015(2015-09-09) (aged 81)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
EducationUnion College, Tellippalai [1]
Alma materUniversity of Ceylon, Colombo
Imperial College London
OccupationAcademic
TitleVice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
TermApril 1994 – February 1997
PredecessorA. Thurairajah
SuccessorP. Balasundarampillai

Early life

Kunaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1954 and graduated in 1958 with a first class honours B.Sc. degree in physics.[3]

Career

After university Kunaratnam worked at the University of Ceylon, Colombo and University of Ceylon, Peradeniya.[3] He studied at Imperial College London between October 1960 and July 1963, obtaining a DIC and a PhD degree.[3]

Kunaratnam was visiting fellow and lecturer in geophysics at the Department of Geology, University of Durham between January 1971 and September 1971.[3] He was visiting fellow at the Department of Physics, Queen Elizabeth College from October 1971 to December 1971.[3]

Kunaratnam was appointed Founder Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Sri Lanka Jaffna campus in April 1975.[4] He remained head of the department until October 1980.[4] He was visiting lecturer at the School of Physics, University of Science, Malaysia between Jan 1981 and October 1981.[3] He then returned to the University of Jaffna and resumed being Head of the Department of Physics, serving until February 1985.[4] He was visiting fellow and professor at the Department of Geophysics, University of Edinburgh between October 1988 and August 1989.[3] He was visiting fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge between Sept 1989 and October 1989.[3]

Kunaratnam was Head of the Department of Computer Science at the university between January 1991 and November 1993.[5] He then served as Head of the Department of Physics from March 1994 and April 1994.[4]

Kunaratnam served as dean of the Faculty of Science twice, from January 1977 to May 1978 and January 1985 to March 1988.[6] He served as vice-chancellor of the university between April 1994 and February 1997.[7] Kunaratnam retired in April 2000.[3] He served as an emeritus professor at the Department of Physics till his death.[8][9]

Kunaratnam was elected fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1998 and fellow and chartered Physicist of the Institute of Physics in 1999.[3] He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Jaffna in 2001.[3] He published several papers in scientific journals on magnetic anomalies in earth magnetic field.[10]

Kunaratnam died on 9 September 2015 in Colombo.[11][12]

References
  1. http://www.onlineuthayan.com/obituarymemo/62
  2. Kay, Benjamin; Bootman, Cara (1999). Who's who in Asia and the Pacific Nations. ISBN 9780948875632.
  3. "Prof.K.Kunaratnam". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  4. "History". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  5. "Heads of the Department". Department of Computer Science, University of Jaffna.
  6. "Dean's Office". Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.
  7. "Establishment of the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008.
  8. "Academic Staff". Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. http://www.earthdoc.org/publication/search/?pubauthorname=K.%7CKunaratnam
  11. "Emeritus Professor Kanthia Kunaratnam". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  12. "Former VC of Jaffna University Professor Kunaratnam passes away in Colombo". Tamil Diplomat. 9 September 2015.
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