Jayantha Dhanapala, former United Nations under-secretary-general for Disarmament Affairs and a former ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States and to the UN Office in Geneva, will be a guest lecturer at the University of Alberta on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Humanities Centre Lecture 1.
Dhanapala is currently chairman of the UN University Council and president of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and a member of the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, as well as several other advisory boards of international bodies.
"Jayantha Dhanapala is a leader and champion in the global disarmament movement," said Andy Knight. "It is an honour to welcome him to the University of Alberta campus and a great privilege to be able to hear his expert advice on a world without nuclear weapons."
Dhanapala has a bachelor of arts (Honours) degree from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and a master of arts in international studies from the American University in Washington D.C. He also studied Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London and worked as a diplomat-in-residence at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. He holds the Simons Visiting Chair in Dialogue in international law and human security at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
As a Sri Lankan diplomat Dhanapala served in London, Beijing, Washington D.C., New Delhi and Geneva and represented Sri Lanka at many international conferences, chairing many of them, including the historic NPT Review and Extension Conference of 1995. He was director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research from 1987-92.
Dhanapala has received many Sri Lankan and international awards and honorary doctorates, has published four books and several articles in international journals and has lectured widely. He speaks Sinhala, English, Chinese and French.