Academic who thought out of the box
The demise of this most gracious lady left most of us in Kandy, more specifically, the Faculty of Medicine at Peradeniya, with a singular sense of loss. She not only was an academic par excellence, but imbibed as she was of eastern culture, gave the medical school values that many generations of doctors, from this institute fondly remember and treasure.
Our paths crossed in 1963 -me, a medical student and she, a junior lecturer in Anatomy of a fledgling faculty, seeking a brand name. Her husband, Professor Tommy Wikramanayake had come earlier in 1962 as a founder member of the Department of Medical Biochemistry. The two, in time, were to commit of their time and energy to uplift the basic science departments of the faculty they had come to love to heights they have now come to hold, being some of the best in the country.