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| Desamanya M. D. D. Pieris Director |
Desamanya M. D. D. Pieris is a graduate of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya); Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, UK and has been conferred the Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the University of Colombo and the title of Honorary Senior Fellow by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine.
His career was in the then Ceylon Civil Service, and later, on the abolition of that service, in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. He had a distinguished career in the public service and held several important posts, including that of Secretary to the Prime Minister; Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Home Affairs; Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives; Secretary, Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Chairman and Director General of Broadcasting. He has also acted on several occasions in addition to his duties, in the posts of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs and Secretary to the Ministry of Trade and Shipping. He has at various times been the Chairman of the National Institute of Education; Chairman – Board of Management of the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration; and Chairman of the Agrarian Research and Training Institute. He has also served on the Governing Councils or Boards of Management of several Universities and Postgraduate Institutes, including the council of the University of Colombo, the Board of management of the Post Graduate Institute of medicine; the University of Colombo School of Computing; The Council of the Buddhist and Pali University; The Board of management of the Arthur Clarke centre of the University of Moratuwa; and the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology of the University of Kelaniya. He has been a Director of the Peoples’ Bank, the People’s Merchant Bank and a member of the Rural Credit Advisory Committee of the Central Bank. He has served as a member of the National Salaries Commission and as a member of the Presidential Commission on Finance and Banking. Currently, he serves as Deputy Chairman – Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd., is Chairman of the Board of Management of the Institute of Information Technology; on the Board of Directors of L.O.L.C.; the Governing Board of the Regional Center for Strategic studies; on the Board of Management of the Institute of Indigenous medicine of the university of Colombo; and on the Board of Management of the U.C.S.C.
He is also a member of the Academic Affairs Board for Post Graduates Studies of the Sri lanka Institute of Development Administration (S.L.I.D.A.) Desamanya Pieris also lectures from time to time on invitation, at S.L.I.D.A.; the Defence Services command and Staff College at Sapugaskanda; and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute. He has delivered four convocation addresses at the universities of Colombo; Sri Jayawardanapura; Ruhuna; and the Open university. He has, also on invitation delivered three Memorial Orations: – the Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Oration; the Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam Memorial Oration; and the Vidyajothi Professor V. K. Samaranayake Memorial Oration. He has been conferred the high National honor of DESAMANYA for “Distinguished Service of a highly meritorious nature to the nation”.
