July 2006 ISSUE
Calgary Dean Named Citizen of the Year
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DR. CHAN WIRASINGHE, P. ENG. |
Dr. Chan Wirasinghe, P.Eng., officially joins the ranks of Calgary’s greatest people by winning the city’s Citizen of the Year Award in the community achievement category. The outgoing dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary accepted the honour at the Calgary Awards, June 14.
Dr. Wirasinghe has also left his mark on his professional association. In fact APEGGA presented him the Centennial Summit Award in 2003, the Association’s most prestigious award. As dean he served on the Board of Examiners, and he’s also a founding board member of the APEGGA Education Foundation.
On June 21, in conjunction with the APEGGA Council meeting in Calgary, Dr. Wirasinghe and his wife, Dhamitha, were presented gifts by Executive Director & Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng.
The Citizen of the Year goes to an outstanding individual Calgarian who has made a recent and extraordinary contribution. The contribution must improve the quality of life in Calgary or bring the city recognition.
The city established the Calgary Awards in 1994. Each year individuals, corporations, community groups, schools and organizations are nominated in five major award categories, with 16 awards available in all.
The Schulich School of Engineering garnered recognition in two major categories, this year — community achievement and environmental achievement. See related story, page 18.
Dr. Wirasinghe spent over 12 years as dean, making him the longest serving dean
of the engineering school. During his time in the position, Dr. Wirasinghe guided
engineering at the U of C to new heights.
He oversaw the establishment of oil and gas, and software engineering degree
programs, and the emergence of the Engineering Alumni Chapter. Two major new
buildings came to fruition during his leadership — the Calgary Centre for
Innovative Technology, and the Information and Communications Technology building.
The school’s research chairs and professorships grew to 30-plus from half a chair, and enrolment has more than doubled under his tutelage . Dean Wirasinghe also spearheaded the naming of the faculty and saw the birth of the Schulich School of Engineering in the spring of 2005 because of a $50-million donation.
“His initiatives and efforts have brought engineering at the University of Calgary to the national and international stage,” says a Schulich School news release.
Dr. Wirasinghe has been an APEGGA member for nearly 30 years. He’s a fellow in the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and in the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He joined the university in 1976 as an assistant professor in civil engineering.