Senior Professor R. Lalitha S. Fernando was promoted to the post of Senior Professor (Chair) of Public Administration
Senior Professor R. Lalitha S. Fernando has been promoted to the post of Senior Professor (Chair) of Public Administration in the Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
Senior Professor R. Lalitha S. Fernando has been serving at the Department of Public Administration since April 1989.
She obtained a full-time scholarship to pursue her Doctoral study from Graduate School of Public Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok, Thailand, for the period 1999-2003. She was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Academic Scholarship to pursue Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies, leading to a Master’s in Development Administration and Management at the University Of Manchester, the U.K. for the period 1990-1992. She obtained B.Sc. Public Administration (Special) degree with a second class upper division from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 1985.
Currently, she is the Coordinator of the two Postgraduate Programs (Master of Public Management and M.Sc. in Public Policy and Management) conducted by the Department of Public Administration. Also, she is the Director of the Research Center for Governance and Public Policy and the Chief Editor of the International Journal of Governance and Public Policy Analysis publishes by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
She served as the Head of the Department, Co-Chair of the International Conference on Governance for Sustainable Development, Secretary-General of the of Network of Asia- Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG), Chairman of the Research Committee, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce and, Director, External Degree Programmes and Extension courses unit. She was the recipient of the Emerald Literati Awards- 2019 for the most outstanding research paper, the Research Award – 2018 for the highest h-index in the faculty and the Best paper award in the 15th International Conference on Business Management (ICBM) in 2018. She was awarded as an Excellent Alumna of the year- 2016 in National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Thailand.
She has published many papers, book chapters, conference papers, articles, and co-edited books related to Public Entrepreneurship and Managerial Innovation, Environmental Management, Disaster Management, and Educational Management at both national and international levels.
The academic members and non-academic members of the Department of Public Administration, students and alumni members congratulate Senior Professor R. Lalitha S. Fernando for her accomplishments!!!!