Maithree Wickramasinghe (PhD) is Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and Visiting Professor at the School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex, United Kingdom. She is also the founding Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya. She is a patron of the Galle Literature Festival and has also served on the panel of judges for the Gratiaen Prize in Sri Lanka. Her publications include Feminist Research Methodology – Making Meanings of Meaning Making, Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls – Gender at the Workplace (co-authored with Wijaya Jayatilake), Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management (co-authored with Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandhu) and From Theory to Action – Women, Gender and Development.
Wickramasinghe counts over twenty years of experience as a gender expert in formulating gender mainstreaming polices, conducting gender trainings and evaluating women’s and gender programs for local and international organizations. She has also addressed plenaries and delivered keynotes for academic and professional organizations in the US, Spain, India, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Kenya and China.