June 7, 2021
Sunanda Dissanayake to retire from K-State, begin new position at Kennesaw State University
Sunanda Dissanayake, associate dean of the Graduate School and professor of civil engineering, will retire from K-State in July. Following that, Dissanayake will begin a new role as the chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Kennesaw State University.
Dissanayake joined the civil engineering department in 2002 as an assistant professor. She was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 2008 and became a full professor in 2014. She joined the Graduate School in summer 2018 as its full-time associate dean.
Dissanayake’s research has focused on solving applied and practical problems related to transportation engineering, with particular emphasis on traffic operations and safety of the highway mode. She has authored and co-authored more than 55 journal papers and presented more than 170 papers at national, international and regional conferences, most of which are proceedings papers. She has taught courses related to transportation engineering and has mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students, preparing the future generation of civil engineers. Dissanayake has won the Outstanding University and Professional Service Award, Advisor of the Year Award, Outstanding Teacher Award and Outstanding Researcher Award for K-State's civil engineering department several times. She is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a registered professional engineer and has been a Fulbright scholar.
As the associate dean of the Graduate School, Dissanayake has assisted the dean of graduate school in all aspects related to graduate education at K-State. Such activities include admissions of graduate students and working with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Graduate Council on all matters pertaining to graduate courses, curricula and graduate faculty membership. She has also served as the Graduate School liaison for the Assessment and Review Committee, handling the evaluation of graduate program assessment plans and Kansas Board of Regents program review and overseeing the procedures for graduate program review.
Dissanayake has represented the Graduate School on numerous university committees including Associate Deans Research Council, Presidential Committee on Multicultural Affairs, Global Campus Advisory Council, University Budget Planning Committee, Committee on Academic Policy and Planning, Global Campus eLearning Committee, College International Advisory Council and is a member of Kansas Council of Graduate Deans and Council of Graduate Schools among others.
Please join the Graduate School team in expressing well wishes to Dissanayake as she closes a chapter at one KSU and prepares for the next chapter at a new KSU. You may connect with her directly at sunanda@k-state.edu.