Tissa Jayatilaka, born in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1948, ended his career as an academic and academic administrator in 2018, following several years of work and study. The work consisted of teaching positions as a Visiting Lecturer at the Universities of Peradeniya, Kelaniya and Sri JayewardenePura in Sri Lanka and at Wake Forest University, North Carolina and Grinnell College, Iowa, in the United States (1975-2005). Mr. Jayatilaka also worked as the Director of the United States Information Service (USIS) Cultural Centre in Kandy, Sri Lanka (1977-1982), as Special Assistant to the Director of the Colombo Plan, a 26-member inter-governmental organization for cooperative, economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific, the Secretariat of which is in Colombo, (1984-1989) and as Executive Director of the bi-national United States – Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission for Mutual Academic Exchange (1989-2018). The study, coming after a Special Degree in English from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (1974), led to a Diploma- in- American -Studies from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1982), an M.A. in English from Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA (1984) and a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri JayewardenePura, (2004). In 1988, he successfully completed a Course on Diplomacy, Diplomatic Procedure and Institutions conducted by Dr. Vernon L.B. Mendis, formerly of the Ceylon Overseas Service and UNESCO Representative to Egypt and Sudan.

During his career, Mr. Jayatilaka travelled widely in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Among the several awards he has received are the USIS Award to participate in the USIS/American Studies Research Centre-sponsored South and South East Asia Regional Seminar on American Studies (1980), Scholarship Award from the Samuel Rubin Foundation for the Diploma in American Studies at Smith College, Superior Performance Award from the United States Information Agency, Washington D.C., for outstanding service as Director USIS Cultural Centre, in Kandy (1982), the Group Study Exchange Award from Rotary International for a Study-cum Lecture tour in Rotary Districts 721, New York, USA (1982) and the British Council Award to attend the Annual Conference on The English Writer and His World at Cambridge University, UK (1987).

In addition to articles of political and literary interest published in scholarly journals and newspapers, Mr. Jayatilaka has served as Editor of International Relations in a Globalising World, The Journal of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (2004- 2005) and of Navasilu, the Journal of the English Association of Sri Lanka. He has been the President of the English Association, Chairman of the Gratiaen Trust and of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Sri Lanka. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Policy Alternatives and of the Panel for English Writing of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka.

At present, Mr. Jayatilaka serves on the Council of Management of the BCIS, in addition to serving as a member of the Boards of the ICES and of the Law and Society Trust of Sri Lanka.