June 28, 2018
Graduate School administration updates
The Graduate School says farewell and extends appreciation to Geraldine Craig as she prepares to return to her full-time position in the art department. Sunanda Dissanayake will replace Craig as associate dean of the Graduate School beginning July 1.
Craig served in the role for three-and-a-half years by enhancing graduate student success through a variety of activities. Her leadership in helping the Graduate School secure a new home in Eisenhower Hall and renovation of the third-floor Graduate Student Space is particularly noteworthy.
In addition to returning to the art department, Craig will leave on sabbatical in fall 2018 for a two-month artist residency in Thailand to work with bamboo artists on collapsible structures. She will travel to Laos to continue Hmong textile research and then go on a solo exhibition/installation of Moroccan geometric patterns created in three dimensions by thread. Finally, she will help with the launch of a community art project with soldiers and veterans.
Dissanayake currently serves as a professor and graduate program director for the civil engineering department. She has been at K-State since 2002. She has maintained an active research program, mentored more than 30 graduate students and served on numerous graduate students' supervisory committees. She has served as faculty advisor for Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering Honor Society, for nine years and currently serves as faculty advisor for the Civil Engineering Graduate Student Council and the Sri Lankan Student Association. She is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
As associate dean, Dissanayake will oversee graduate-level course and curriculum proposals and graduate program assessment and review, represent the Graduate School on the Associate Dean of Research Council and the Global Campus Advisory Committee, and assist with recruitment, among other duties. The Graduate School staff looks forward to welcoming Dissanayake to the team.