The Sweeney Scholars
There are many similarities among the students Sweeney supported. All attended private schools (five from Ladies College, Colombo) and, as excellent students, were destined for university. They were engaged Wilson students who enhanced the intellectual life of the College, fully participating in the experience. They were also on campus during years of Wilson’s lowest enrollments. They, and many Sri Lanka students who followed, recall with gratitude religion Prof. Harry M. Buck and his wife as friends and mentors to foreign students and supporters of Muhibbah (international) Club. Others mentioned fondly were Elizabeth Boyd, Eleanor Mattes, John Applegate, Helen Nutting, and Chambersburg host families.
Nelu Senanayake de Silva ’75 graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude in biology and chemistry. She received the Wilson College Fellowship for Graduate Studies and went on to King’s College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Before retiring, she was a research officer at the Ceylon Institute of Scientific & Industrial Research and a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Sri Lanka Medical Facility. A devoted mother of two, she lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Chandi Amarasinghe Kadirgamar ’79 majored in English literature, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Among her most vivid Wilson memories are traveling to NYC in March 1979 to protest the Trustees’ decision to close the College. She earned a master’s in public administration at NYU and spent 37 years as a program evaluator for the United Nations. During the latter years of her career, her emphasis was on gender and women’s empowerment, and disability rights. She is the mother of two adult children.
Premali Wijenaike Munasinha ’81, Nelu’s cousin, is the only Sweeney scholar from Kandy, Sri Lanka. She never met Sweeney. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a major in fine art and a minor in mathematics and took an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, where she was hosted by the late Mary Lou Kerfoot Wells, ‘65. An accomplished professional artist, she briefly taught art and math in Kandy and folk art in Australia. Both her children attend college in Australia, and she holds dual Sri Lankan and Australian citizenship. She credits the College with teaching her independence and the ability to think for herself.
Ranmali Hapugalle ’89, the first of the three Hapugalle sisters sponsored by Sweeney, majored in fine arts and received two service awards and the Melahan Award for excellence in art history and studio art. She obtained a master’s in art education from the University of Cincinnati and earned an MBA in general administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of Sri Jayawardenepura. Throughout her career as a K-12 visual arts teacher, she has served primarily at international schools. Following the 2004 Asian tsunami that devastated parts of Sri Lanka, she established a fundraising effort with friends to build a school for girls near Galle.
Natalie Gunewardene-Palleros ’85 knew Sweeney since childhood through her uncle, Larry Schokman, whom she recently learned had asked Sweeney to support her education at Wilson. She played hockey, sang in the choir, and helped establish the international club, Muhibbah. She majored in creative arts and geography. She has combined teaching university-level landscape architecture with therapeutic horticulture — helping the disadvantaged and mentally ill through gardening. She currently works in the General Court Intervention Program (GCIP), which attempts to keep people, especially Indigenous Australians, from incarceration. She is the mother of three adult children and grandmother of two. She has lived in Perth, Australia, for 25 years.
Chaitri Hapugalle ’92 majored in business and economics, graduating Cum Laude with honors in economics and other recognitions, including an alumnae scholarship. She served as president of the Muhibbah and Business clubs and was a South Hall RA. She is grateful to former Alumnae Trustee Ellen Van Looy Reed ’53 for sponsoring Wilson’s participation in the Center for Study of the Presidency that she attended twice. She earned a master’s in public policy in international trade and finance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2014 she was honored by the AAWC with the Distinguished Young Alumna Award. She is the founder of the Peace-Led Climate Friendly Sustainable Development Forum (PC-SDF), an NGO promoting connectivity, healthcare, and environmental projects in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific region.
Natasha Peiris Fernando ’93 received a first-year award for mathematics and graduated Cum Laude in biology. She was permitted to take extra credits each semester, graduating in three years. She is grateful to professors Brad Engle and Deb Austin for their part in making her lifelong dream to become a doctor a reality and fondly remembers remembers South Hall friends. She earned a degree in general medicine from the University of Southampton, U.K., continued her post-graduate education in the U.K. and became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP). She obtained a fellowship from the Royal College of Edinburgh (FRCP). For the past 17 years, Dr. Peiris has been a specialist in internal medicine at Arts Surgical Hospital, Colombo. She and her attorney husband have one son.
Chethika Hapugalle Ratwatte ’95 was the last Sweeney Scholar (Sweeney passed away during her senior year). She majored in history/political science, minored in studio art, and received a distinguished service award her senior year. She got a master’s in international relations from Istanbul Bilgi University and then spent nine years as head of regional marketing and communications for Alpha Asia Airports Group. For the past 12 years, she has served as regional general manager for a Sri Lanka paper company, Double A Pulp & Paper. A passionate political activist, she is married and lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka.