Maitree Wickremasinghe


Maithree Wickramasinghe is a Sri Lankan academic and Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya. She is the founder director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya and is a visiting professor on gender and women's studies at other educational institutions including the University of Colombo and University of Sussex. Maithree Wickramasinghe has delivered keynotes and addressed plenaries at academic and professional fora in the US, Spain, Kenya, India, Pakistan, South Korea and China. She has over 25 years of experience in formulating gender equity and equality policies/strategies, conducting gender sensitization trainings and evaluating women’s and gender programs for local and international organizations.

Family and education

The only child of the late Senevi B. Wickremasinghe and Shiranee Wickremasinghe of Nawala, Koswatte, she is an old girl of Musaeus College. She graduated from King's College London with a BA 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 Wickremasinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Publications