ADB Names Dr.Priyantha Wijayatunga as New Senior Director

Dr. Priyantha Wijayatunga, former Senior Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa and the first Director General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), has been named Senior Director, Energy Sectors Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB).

He previously served as the ADB's Director, South Asia Energy Division, and Chief of the Energy Sector Group before being elevated to this new position under the ADB's new organisational structure, which will go into effect in 2023. This is the most senior position in ADB's energy sector operations, and it is a significant acknowledgement of Dr. Wijayatunga's long professional career and experience in the energy sector, which spans more than 35 years.

Dr. Wijayatunga received a Doctorate in Power System Economics from Imperial College London in 1992 as part of a Beit Scientific Research Fellowship. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Moratuwa, began working there as an assistant lecturer in 1986, and was promoted to Professor of Electrical Engineering in 2001. He retired as a Senior Professor of Electrical Engineering from the university. From 1993 to 1998, he was also an Academic Visitor at Imperial College London.

During his tenure at the University of Moratuwa, he made significant contributions to the development of university education in various forms, as well as to the development of the energy sector in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. He spearheaded the establishment of the Faculty of Information Technology (IT) at the University of Moratuwa in 2001, at the request of the university, and became the Faculty's first Dean. During this time, as a member of the University Grants Commission's Standing Committee on IT, he spearheaded efforts to broaden university IT education beyond the mathematics stream.

Dr. Wijayatunga began her career with the ADB as an Energy Specialist and was later promoted to Senior Energy Specialist, Principal Energy Specialist, and Director of the South Asia Energy Division. Later that year, in August 2021, he was named Chief of the ADB's Energy Sector Group. He also briefly served as Unit Head, Portfolio Management at the ADB Nepal Resident Mission. Sri Lanka benefited greatly from his contribution to energy sector development over the course of his 35-year career in the energy sector, 15 of which he spent at the ADB.