Top labour migration expert to deliver Prof. H.A. de S. Gunasekera Memorial Oration
View(s):The Prof. H.A. de S. Gunasekera Memorial Oration 2014 will be delivered by Dr. Piyasiri Wickramasekara, Vice President, Global Migration Policy Associates, Geneva, Switzerland, on the topic, “International Migration and Development: Myths and Facts” on Thursday, September 18 at 4 p.m. at the Senate Room of the University of Peradeniya, Kandy.
Prof. De S. Gunasekera was Professor of Economics and Head of the Dept of Economics and Political Science of the then University of Ceylon. He succeeded Prof. Das Gupta to become the second occupant of the Chair (and the first Sri Lankan) in the Department in 1961. He later became Secretary, Ministry of Planning (1970-1977) under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. He was a much respected academic and public servant.
Dr. Wickramasekara, a distinguished student of Prof. Gunasekera, is an internationally recognised expert in development, migration and employment issues. He served on the academic staff of the then Dept of Economics, Commerce & Statistics of the University of Peradeniya from 1968-1984.
Thereafter he joined the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a Senior Specialist and worked for 25 years in New Delhi, Bangkok and Geneva, last serving as a Senior Migration Specialist in the ILO’s International Migration Programme in Geneva at the point of retirement in 2010.
The oration is organised jointly by the Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Peradeniya and the Prof. H.A. de S. Gunasekera Memorial Trust Fund.