Maithree Wickremesinghe

Maithree Wickremesinghe (Sinhala: මෛත්‍රී වික්‍රමසිංහ; born 11 August 1964) is the current First Lady of Sri Lanka as the wife of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. She is a Sri Lankan academic, writer, and professor of English at the University of Kelaniya.[1] She specializes in gender and women's studies.[2][3][4]

Maithree Wickremasinghe
මෛත්‍රී වික්‍රමසිංහ
First Lady of Sri Lanka
Assumed role
21 July 2022
PresidentRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byIoma Rajapaksa
Personal details
Born (1964-08-11) 11 August 1964
Nawala, Dominion of Ceylon
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1994)​
EducationMusaeus College, Colombo
Alma mater
OccupationProfessor
Work InstitutionsUniversity of Kelaniya
FieldGender and women's studies

Wickremesinghe is the founding director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya and a visiting professor on gender and women's studies at other educational institutions including the University of Colombo and University of Sussex. She has focused on gender equity and equality policy strategies, conducting gender sensitization trainings, and evaluating women's and gender programs for local and international organizations for more than 25 years.

Family and education

The only child of Senevi B. Wickremasinghe and Shiranee Wickremasinghe (née Bandaratilaka) of Nawala, Koswatte, she attended Musaeus College, a private girls' school in Colombo. She graduated from King's College London with a BA (Hons) degree in English and went on to complete her MA degree in Women's Studies at the University of Colombo. She had gained her Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Education, University of London, specializing in feminist research methodology in Sri Lanka. In 1994, she married Ranil Wickremesinghe. In July 2022 she became the First Lady of Sri Lanka when Ranil became the President of Sri Lanka.[5] She is the first presidential spouse with a Ph.D. in Sri Lanka.

Academia

Maithree Wickremesinghe has delivered keynotes and addressed plenaries at academic and professional fora in Spain, Kenya, India, Pakistan, South Korea, China and the United States of America.

Selected publications
  • From Theory to Action – Women, Gender and Development (2000), published by Friedrich Ebert Steiftung.
  • ITDG (Practical Action) book Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management (2003/2005), co-authored (with Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandhu)
  • Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls – Gender at the Workplace, co-authored with Wijaya Jayatilake and published by the International Labor Organization (2006).
  • " Feminist Research Methodology – Making Meaning of Meaning Making (2010) published by Rutledge.
  • " Towards Gender Equity / Equality: A Scan of gender Sensitive Laws, Policies and Programmes in Sri Lanka (2012) published by ILO.

References
  1. "Global Affairs: Maithree Wickramasinghe". University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  2. "Ranil sworn in as President". Ceylon Today. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  3. "How did Ranil Wickremesinghe become Sri Lanka's president after six terms as PM?". The National (Abu Dhabi). 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  4. "First Lady travels alone in London". The Morning (Sri Lanka). 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  5. "Sri Lankan parliament elects six-time PM Wickremesinghe as new president". France 24. 20 July 2022.
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