In memoriam: Sisira Jayasuriya, 1946-2025

 Professor Sisira Kumara Jayasuriya

By Prema-chandra Athukorala and 

Sarath Rajapatirana

The distinguished economist Professor Sisira Kumara Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka-born and who spent much of his professional life in Australia, passed away on 18 February 2025, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Sisira was a highly respected economist whose contributions to economics, ranging from macroeconomics to microeconomics, were wide and deep. Throughout his professional career, he maintained an abiding interest in studying the Sri Lankan economy and participating in the country’s economic policy debate.

Sisira was born 22 June 1946 into a middle-class academic family in Bandaragama. His parents were both schoolteachers. He was the second child in the family, with an older sister and a younger sister. All three siblings graduated from the leading university in the country, the University of Ceylon (later renamed Peradeniya University). 

He was an old boy of Ananda College, just before the primary language of instruction in higher education in Sri Lanka was changed from English to Sinhala (and Tamil). He entered the University of Ceylon in 1965 as a student in the science stream but later decided to switch to social sciences to study economics, majoring in statistics—an extremely rare and bold decision at that university, where disciplines were traditionally rigid. 

Sisira was a political activist from his high school days. He was an active member of the student wing of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). In 1968, when the LSSP leadership entered mainstream politics, Sisira joined a breakaway group of young LSSPers who formed the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League (RCL) (subsequently renamed the Socialist Equality Party), affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International. During his university days (and perhaps beyond), he was the chief editor of the party’s weekly newspaper, Kamkaru Mawatha. 

Powerful and passionate speaker

Sisira was a powerful and passionate speaker for the party, with a remarkable ability to directly quote Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky to debunk his political opponents. Those of us who were at the University of Peradeniya during his time have vivid memories of the speeches he delivered under the famous ‘strike tree,’ using evocative and stirring language tinged with humour, complemented by sharp, deliberate hand movements to punctuate key points. 

After graduating in 1970 and spending short spells as an assistant lecturer in the same department and at the Rubber Research Institute, Sisira came to the Australian National University (ANU) in 1972 for post-graduate studies on Colombo Plan. He first enrolled in the Master’s program at the Development Studies Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies (RSPS). Upon completing his Master’s in 1973, Sisira was awarded an ANU scholarship for doctoral research. His doctoral thesis focused on the long-term investment decisions of rubber smallholders in Sri Lanka, set against the backdrop of emerging analytical literature on the investment behaviour of farmers engaged in perennial cash crops.

In 1978, he joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines, as a Post-doctoral Fellow and was promoted to scientist/economist in 1980. After a five-year tenure at IRRI, he returned to the ANU in 1982 as a Research Fellow in the economics division of RSPS. Subsequently, he taught at La Trobe University (as Senior Lecturer, and then Reader) and at the University of Melbourne (as Associate Professor and Director of the Centre of Asian Studies), before joining the Department of Economics at Monash University as a Professor in 2010. At Monash, he played a pivotal role in founding and shaping the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) into a leading centre for cutting-edge interdisciplinary development research.

Quintessential applied economist

Sisira was the quintessential applied economist, with a firm grounding in theory and analytical techniques. His research and policy advisory activities spanned trade, macroeconomics, environmental issues, and food policy in developing countries, with a multidisciplinary focus. His publications included six books and over 50 papers in multi-authored volumes and scholarly journals. Sisira regularly advised governments and international organisations on development policy, offering real-world insights. He supervised and mentored many doctoral students from various countries, including Australia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

He was a frequent visitor to the Institute of Policy Studies in Colombo during its formative years. He worked closely with Dr. Saman Kelegama (Executive Director) and Dr. David Dunham (Resident Economist funded by the Dutch government) in developing the research profile and capabilities of the institute, helping it become a major multidisciplinary research centre in the South Asian region.

During the first Chandrika Kumaratunga regime (1994–1999), he worked closely with Dr. Lal Jayawardene, the main economic advisor to the Government. He drafted the Economic Policy Statement of the Government of Sri Lanka (13 September 1994) when the new Government came into power, though he was later disappointed by the sharp deviation of practice from the declared policy.

During his tenure at La Trobe University, he sponsored several students from Sri Lanka to undertake doctoral research under a major research project on Land Degradation in Sri Lanka (1992–2000), in collaboration with the Ministry of Plantation Industries, Sri Lanka. He co-authored a major book on macroeconomic policy in Sri Lanka and several papers on key economic issues of the country, which have now become an integral part of its knowledge base.

A ‘man of conviction’, he was never aggressive or incoherent, even in heated arguments; reasoned calmness was a hallmark of his character as a public intellectual. He had a vast coterie of friends across continents who appreciated this gentle soul. As much as we mourn his passing, we will also celebrate the opportunities we had to know and associate with him. 

Sisira is survived by his wife, Sreeni, and their daughter, Tanya.

(Prema-chandra Athukorala is a Professor at Australian National University, and Sarath Rajapatirana is attached to Advocata Institute, Colombo (formerly at the World Bank).)