Faculty Spotlight: N. Chanaka P. Edirisinghe
For almost 20 years, Dr. Chanaka Edirisinghe has been part of the UT College of Business Administration’s esteemed faculty specializing in management science. With an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Sri Lanka and a master’s in engineering/industrial engineering and management from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, Edirisinghe earned his doctorate in management science in 1991 from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Before he joined UT, he worked in Sri Lanka and Thailand as an engineer, lecturer, and research associate. From there, he came to us as an assistant professor of management science in the Department of Management, and he continued to become an associate professor within the same department, and eventually a professor in the Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science in 2004. Before joining the faculty at UT, he taught courses on probability, statistics, decision analysis and inventory theory, and linear programming and applications. However at UT, Edirisinghe has taught a variety of management science courses, decision analysis, and service operations, among others.
Edirisinghe has earned numerous awards and honors during his time in the academic community including 11 from the university and 10 from other institutions. He has served as part of the editorial boards and panels for numerous research projects and academic journals. In addition, he has served the university in a multitude of capacities including chairing the management science program; serving as a member of the Faculty Research Council; representing the college as a member of the Faculty Senate; and numerous other committees and panels. Additionally, he has refereed 26 publications, and he has been invited to give over 74 presentations/lectures across the U.S., Canada, Italy, England, Sri Lanka, and China.
Edirisinghe’s research interests include linear and stochastic programming, financial portfolio optimization models, fundamental analysis of public firms, water resources planning, and supply chain coordination, among others. He has been the principal investigator for three research projects and co-investigator for a fourth.
Edirisinghe is married and has twin sons, both of whom are employed outside of the state. He enjoys traveling outside the U.S. and learning about other cultures, watching cricket games (the national sport of the United Kingdom), and devising trading/betting strategies to beat the professionals (although he admits, it is without much success thus far!).