Pioneer of Mass Communication Studies Prof. Wimal Dissanayake Passes Away
Professor Wimal Dissanayake, a pioneer in mass communication studies in Sri Lanka and a leading global authority on Asian communication theory, has passed away in Hawaii, USA, at the age of 86.
As Sri Lanka’s first university lecturer in mass communication, Prof. Dissanayake gained international renown for his contributions to Sri Lankan literary criticism, mass communication, film studies, and communication theory. He was also an accomplished poet and author.
Prof. Dissanayake played a pivotal role in establishing mass communication as an academic discipline in the Sri Lankan university system, serving as a founding figure and the first Head of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya.
He received his early education at Trinity College, Kandy, before entering the University of Ceylon, where he studied Sinhala, Sanskrit, and English, graduating with an Honors degree in Sinhala. He is widely regarded as an independent scholar emerging from the Peradeniya School of Thought.
He later earned his PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge, UK, and went on to complete a postdoctoral degree in mass communication and cinema at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 under a prestigious fellowship.
In 1979, Prof. Dissanayake relocated to the United States after accepting an appointment at the University of Hawaii, where he served as a Professor of Mass Communication. He was also honored with an Honorary Professorship from the University of Hong Kong and received special recognition from the BBC World Service.
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