This year Founder’s day oration to celebrate the 66th anniversary was delivered by distinguish old Thurstanite Prof Rohan Samarajiva
Prof Rohan Samarajiiva
Professor Rohan Samarajiva is founding Chair of LIRNEasia, an ICT policy and regulation think tank active across emerging Asia. He was its CEO from 2004 to 2012. His most recent co-authored book (2013) is Information lives of the poor: Fighting poverty with technology, published in English, French, Myanmar and Spanish. In 2012 he co-authored අපට ගැළපෙන ආර්ථික ක්රමවේද with C.J. Amaratunge. He regularly writes on economics, technology and governance issues in Sinhala and English newspapers and also serves as a resource person on electronic media programs.
Professor Samarajiva was Team Leader at the Sri Lanka Ministry for Economic Reform, Science and Technology (2002-04) responsible for infrastructure reforms, including participation in the design of the e Sri Lanka Initiative. He was Director General of Telecommunications in Sri Lanka (1998-99), a founder director of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (2003-05), Honorary Professor at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka (2003-04), Visiting Professor of Economics of Infrastructures at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (2000-03) and Associate Professor of Communication and Public Policy at the Ohio State University in the US (1987-2000).
Professor Samarajiva was recognized as an Internet Pioneer of Sri Lanka by the Internet Society of Sri Lanka, in 2015. In 1998, 1990 and 1989 he was voted Faculty Member of the Year by the students of the School of Communication at the Ohio State University. In 1992 he was awarded the Ameritech Prize for accomplishments in the field of telecommunications. At Simon Fraser University, Canada, where he completed his Masters and PhD, he was awarded several Graduate Research Fellowships, two Open Graduate Scholarships, 1981 and the Steel Memorial Graduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University. At Sri Lanka Law College he was awarded First Scholarship at the Attorney’s Preliminary Examination and Prizes in Roman Law and Criminal Law and was a member of the Sinhala and English debating teams. He was Secretary of the Law Students Union and was editor of the Sri Lanka Law College Review in 1978. He entered Thurstan College in 1964 to Grade 6 had the best results at the GCE (Ordinary Level) Examination at Thurstan College in 1968 and gained admission to the University of Peradeniya along with most of his classmates.