Karunasena Kodituwakku

Karunasena Kodituwakku (born March 21, 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician, academic and diplomat. He was the Sri Lankan ambassador to China, and non-resident ambassador to Mongolia and North Korea. He was the former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Education, Human Resources Development and Cultural Affairs and the third governor of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. He also served as the vice chancellor of University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Sri Lankan ambassador to Japan and Republic of Korea.

Early life and education Kodituwakku received his higher education at the University of Kelaniya, where he gained a BA (Hons) degree in economics in 1968. He received his MA degree in economics from the University of New England (Australia) on a Colombo Plan scholarship, and his doctorate (D.Litt.) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Academic career Between 1968 and 1991, he served as a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. In 1978 he was seconded to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Employment as a planning director with the responsibility for the introduction of the graduate placement scheme to help ease high unemployment among graduates in the 1970s. In 1983 he was appointed by the then-Sri Lankan president, J.R. Jayawardena, as the competent authority of the university when the incumbent Vice Chancellor resigned his post, and July that year he was appointed its Vice Chancellor which he held till April 1988. Post-graduate Management Institute (PIM), post graduate studies on forestry department, medical faculty and the library complex were started during his time as the VC. In 1986 he became the President of the University Vice-Chancellors' Federation and was elected an Executive member of the London -based Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Diplomatic career In 1988 Kodituwakku left Sri Lanka to serve as the ambassador of Sri Lanka in Japan (1988–1989) and South Korea (1989–1991).

In 2015, Kodituwakku was appointed the Sri Lankan ambassador to China. He is also the Non-resident Ambassador to Mongolia and North Korea.