American Alumni Association of Sri Lanka to celebrate 30 years with grand awards on 29 March

The American Alumni Association of Sri Lanka (AAASL), which was founded in 1999 by a small group of returning graduates from several universities in the USA, celebrates 30 years of success in facilitating American higher education to college and university students this year.  

The Founder President of AAASL was Janaka Edirisinghe, an alumnus of North Carolina A&T University and Universal Ambassador at Albert Edirisinghe Opticians Ltd.  Initially set up to reminisce and share common experiences during their time in the USA, the American Alumni Association has since carried out various programs for both outbound as well as returning graduates, and has been instrumental in encouraging Sri Lankans who have received their higher education in the United States to return to Sri Lanka and serve their motherland by sharing their acquired knowledge and expertise. The association has also carried out various CSR activities, most recently at the Moratuwa Special Education School and Home for Girls, where they sponsored a long-needed extension to the kitchen facilities at this home.

The patrons of the organisation are the incumbent US Ambassador to Sri Lanka - presently Alaina B. Teplitz and Dr. Harsha de Silva, representing the United States and Sri Lanka respectively. An annually elected Board of Directors governs the association according to a Constitution and by-laws passed and verified by the officials at the American Cultural Centre. The current President of the association is Satyajit Seneviratne – a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Clemson University and a recently retired Director at MillenniumIT.

A long awaited venture that will be launched at this event is the American Alumni Association Trust Foundation.  The AAA Trust Foundation will be the heartbeat of the association and will be the key to furthering the objective to assist deserving but less privileged students in their dream of obtaining a higher education at universities and colleges in the United States.

To celebrate this milestone, the AAASL will be having a grand awards ceremony at 6:00 pm on Friday 29 March at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.  The 25 recipients of the 25th anniversary awards held in 2013 will be inducted into an AAA Hall of Fame.  New awards will be presented to leaders in various categories of service and business as well as the recognition of leading young entrepreneurs who have made an indelible mark in Sri Lanka in varied ventures and professions.

The Platinum sponsor of this event will be UN Consortium, representing two premier American educational providers in Sri Lanka, American University Program (AUP- www.aup.edu.lk) offering a full Degree of Cleary University Michigan in Sri Lanka, American International Campus (AIC Campus www.aicedu.lk) offering California State University (SacState) and University of Wisconsin Parkside (UWP) Transfer programs for Sri Lankan students. In addition, there are several Gold and Silver sponsors, who have readily come forward to make this event a grand success.

All members and US Alumni, who might be interested in being a part of the organisation, are invited to attend this event. Registration can be done by sending an email to the American Alumni Association <[email protected]> or by SMS or WhatsApp to +94 777 666835 on or before Wednesday, 20 March. The event cost is Rs. 5,000, which includes cocktails and fellowship after the ceremony. Space is limited and registration would be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.