Professor Chandrika N Wijeyaratne assumed duties as the 18^th Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo on 12^th April 2019. She is Senior Professor since 2010, having qualified with MBBS Second Class (Upper) Honours (1983), M.D Internal Medicine (1989) and Doctor of Medicine by Research (2003) from the University of Colombo. It is indeed serendipitous that Prof Wijeyaratne, the third academic from the medical faculty to hold the Office of the Vice Chancellor, will lead the University to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of its pioneering faculty, the Faculty of Medicine.

Professor Wijeyaratne was the first Endocrinologist in Sri Lanka to be appointed to an academic position and has the distinction of being a pioneer Physician in Women’s Health (Obstetric Medicine and Reproductive Endocrinology) in the South Asian region. With teaching experience exceeding 30 years she has left her mark on medical and postgraduate education by helping in the development of an innovative medical school curriculum and in inspiring a large number of trainees to enter the field of Endocrinology. Her contributions to the field of Endocrinology was celebrated internationally with the prestigious Laureate Award for International Excellence in 2017 by the Endocrine Society of USA – in its centenary year, the only such award to date for South Asia.