Dr. Priyantha Premakumara Secretary, University Grants Commission |
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Dr. Priyantha Premakumara has obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, a Master of Business Administration, and a Ph.D. in Management. Dr. Premakumara joined the University Grants Commission (UGC) in April 1999 as an Assistant Secretary and was promoted to the post of Senior Assistant Secretary in January 2005. Then he was promoted to the post of Additional Secretary of Academic Affairs and University Admissions in October 2010. He was in charge of the University Admissions Department nearly for 12 years and contributed enormously to develop the Department as one of the most efficient and effective Departments in the UGC. Dr. Premakumara was appointed as the Additional Secretary of the Human Resources in September 2011. At the age of 47, Dr. Premakumara was appointed to the post of Secretary of the University Grants Commission in 2014. He is the sixth (6th) person to hold this prestigious post. Dr. Premakumara was awarded a scholarship from the Chinese Scholarships Council for a Ph.D. program at the Wuhan University of Technology. This was helpful for him to identify subject-specific knowledge with competencies in research and the ability to grasp administrative concepts. He is a scholar specializing in Human Resource Management, Personnel Management, Strategic Planning, Marketing Strategy, and Organizational Effectiveness and has produced publications on the same. He visited the Universities and Colleges of Admissions Service (UCAS), the United Kingdom, the Central Admissions Office (CAO), Ireland, the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and the University of Delhi in India in 2005 to identify admissions policies and procedures adopted by them. Further, he represented Sri Lanka for the ninth Regional Committee Meeting of UNESCO on Recognition of Degrees and Diplomas in Higher Education held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2007. In addition, he represented the UGC in conferences held in the United State of America, Australia, France, Bahrain, Mauritius, the Netherlands, and Canada. Presently, Dr. Premakumara serves as a memeber of the Board of Directors of the National School of Business Management (NSBM) and a member of the Board of Management of the Institute of Technology, University of Moratuwa (ITUM). Besides, he serves as a member of the Academic Affairs Board of the National Institute of Education (NIE), the Academic Governing Council of the National School of Business Management (NSBM), and the Academic Governing Council of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM). In addition to the Post of Secretary of the University Grants Commission, Dr. Premakumara serves as the Secretary of the Admissions Committee of the UGC. |