Vice-Provost (International)
Dr. Janaka Ruwanpura, PhD
Dr. Ruwanpura was appointed the vice-provost (international) of the University of Calgary, effective Feb. 1, 2013. He was re-appointed to the position through to June 30, 2023.
Ruwanpura comes to the Office of the Provost from the Schulich School of Engineering (SSE), where he is currently a full professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. He also holds an appointment as a Canada Research Chair Tier II in Project Management Systems, which he has held since 2007. Ruwanpura is the founding Director of the Centre for Project Management Excellence and has been the Director of Project Management Specialization in the Schulich School of Engineering since 2005. His involvement in international activities is comprehensive, including teaching, training, research, administration and service activities. As the recipient of the University of Calgary’s International Achievement Award in 2006, Ruwanpura’s passion for international activities makes him the ideal candidate to lead the realization of the university’s International Strategy.
As Vice-Provost (International), Dr. Ruwanpura is responsible for ensuring the commitment made in our Eyes High strategic vision document and the Academic and Strategic Research Plans to focus on internationalization of the university’s activities receives priority. Ruwanpura oversees and leads the implementation of the university’s new International Strategic Plan. By aligning the university’s international activities with our Academic and Strategic Research Plans the vice-provost will advance the institution’s efforts in international research, academic programming, staff and student mobility, programmatic partnerships, service and development.
Ruwanpura holds a BSc (honours) from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, a MSc from Arizona State University, and a PhD from the University of Alberta, and has extensive peer-reviewed publications and scholarly presentations to his credit.
As the director of project management, he has brought several new initiatives to the program to boost teaching, training, research, internationalization and professional services including developing a two-tier Project Management Certification (PMC) program for industry professionals.
He has been recognized with national and international awards for education, research and service. He is a licensed professional engineer (P.Eng.), a professional quantity surveyor (PQS) in Canada and a Professional/Chartered Member of UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS). He has led negotiations and successfully implemented two teaching contracts that offered the University of Calgary’s MEng degree program in project management to students working for the National Iranian Oil Company in Tehran; negotiated a new contract to offer an advanced diploma program in project management and a MEng in project management in Mumbai, India; and serves as the convener and co-leader for the International Institute for Infrastructure Renewal and Reconstruction, a multi-university consortium of more than 20 universities around the world, that has done collaborative research in disaster planning and management.
