President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Air Chief Marshal Kolitha A. Gunathilake (Retd.) as the new Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU).
The letter of appointment was presented to Air Chief Marshal Gunathilake by Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake at the Presidential Secretariat on 5 October.
KDU was initially established as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy under Parliamentary Act No. 68 of 1981. The Academy was elevated to university status under the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (Amendment) Act No. 27 of 1988 and was subsequently renamed General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University on 11 October 2007. The University’s degrees are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka, while KDU is also a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the International Association of Universities.
The appointment is particularly significant to Sri Lanka’s aviation sector, given KDU’s long-standing contribution to aeronautical engineering education and the development of aviation professionals for the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The Department of Aeronautical Engineering at KDU was established in 1993 in response to the growing need for officers with specialised aeronautical engineering knowledge, reflecting the evolving technologies and operational requirements of the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The first batch of Officer Cadets enrolled in the Aeronautical Engineering degree programme in 1993, with the inaugural batch graduating in 1997. Since then, the programme has contributed to the development of technically qualified personnel in the fields of aviation and aerospace engineering.
Air Chief Marshal Kolitha A. Gunathilake (Retd.) previously served as Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force and as Chief of Defence Staff, bringing extensive experience in military aviation, leadership and national defence to his new role as Chancellor of KDU.
