Prof. Dilkushi Wettewe wins WIM ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year Gold Award’

Prof. Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne Wettewe receiving the Gold Award from Minister of Women and Child Affairs Chandrani Bandara

Women in Management (WIM), in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has recognised and awarded the prestigious ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ Award (Gold) for her exceptional leadership in the field of Higher Education to Prof. Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne Wettewe of the Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya at the ‘Top 50 Professional and Career Women Awards 2018 – 8th Edition, Sri Lanka and Maldives’ held on 7 August at Hilton Colombo.

Prof. Wettewe is a Professor of ELT at the Department of English Language Teaching, University of Kelaniya. By making a significant contribution through her PhD in Contact Linguistics (2009), and becoming a professor in ELT in 2013, she instilled professionalism in her field. Her PhD has been identified as a ‘major feat’ in the advancement of Contact Linguistics. It was published by the Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT). Her contribution has been vital to transformation in her field. While spearheading the ELTU as Head of Department in 2010, Prof. Wettewe worked on challenging programs at national level. She was in charge of national-level English language programs for university new entrants, undergraduates, and academic and non-academic university staff members. Apart from designing the curriculum with a team of experts, she was also responsible for the implementation of the programs that aimed at enhancing English skills of new entrants prior to university entrance.

From 2014 to 2017, she served as the Director of the Staff Development Centre at the University of Kelaniya. As Director of Staff Development, she was in charge of training programs for academic, non-academic and administrative staff members of the university. In 2014, she introduced international quality standards to the SDC program by obtaining the highly acclaimed ISO 9001-2008 and the ISO 9001-2015 certifications from the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI). The SDC at the University of Kelaniya is the first and only SDC with ISO certification in a state university.

The WIM award has recognised and rewarded her exemplary services and contribution as Head of ELTU and Director of SDC, which made huge strides to the advancement of ELT and staff training in state universities. The award has recognised and rewarded Prof. Wettewe’s contributions, in research and in administration to the enhancement of academic quality and excellence of ELTUs and English Language Teaching in universities in Sri Lanka, especially during a time when these units were struggling to obtain departmental status. In addition, she has published extensively. She is author of Sinhala-English Code Mixing in Sri Lanka, a sociolinguistic study; Discourse Strategies of Sri Lankan bilinguals; ‘Here and Now: a spiritual journey’, a collection of poems; and ‘The Disciple’ published by S. Godage & Brothers.

The WIM Awards are dedicated to celebrating the success and achievements of remarkable Sri Lankan women, who have excelled in inspiring and transforming those around them. The Awards are meant to motivate and inspire women’s participation in leadership roles and reach higher in their careers. The ceremony was graced by Speaker of Parliament Hon Karu Jayasuriya while the Guest of Honour was State Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne. The keynote address was delivered by Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls, Dr. Sharman Stone.