US-SLFC Hosts Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya

The United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission (US-SLFC) hosted the Honorable Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, for an event at the US-SLFC office. The Prime Minister delivered remarks and thanked the Commission for facilitating a Fulbright Specialist engagement with Professor Priyanvada Abeywickrama from San Francisco State University, who spent one month in Sri Lanka consulting on education reform efforts. 

To complete her Fulbright Specialist tenure in Sri Lanka, Professor Abeywickrama gave a public lecture titled 250 Years of Educational Excellence: Lessons from a Sri Lankan American. Dr. Abeywickrama’s lecture put her own academic background at Iowa State University and the University of California-Los Angeles in conversation with a 250-year legacy of American innovation in the education sector, concluding with an optimistic view towards a future of opportunity and prosperity.

US-SLFC also unveiled its inaugural art exhibition featuring works by three prominent Sri Lankan artists who went to the U.S. on Fulbright exchanges, most notably H.A. Karunaratne–known as the “father of abstract art in Sri Lanka” (1965)–plus Dumith Kulasekara (2012) and Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah (2020).

US-SLFC wishes to thank the Honorable Prime Minister for her investment in the Fulbright mission of mutual exchange, as well as Professor Abeywickrama for the contributions she made during her Fulbright Specialist period.