Former CSUF Dean Dies

Kolf O. Jayaweera, emeritus dean of Cal State Fullerton’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, died May 16, after a long illness. He had been afflicted with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disorder, and succumbed in an Oregon hospice. He was 73.

Caption: Kolf O. Jayaweera Download Photo

Jayaweera retired from Cal State Fullerton in 2005 after serving for 15 years as dean of the college, as well as a dual appointment in 1997 as acting dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

During his tenure as NSM dean, he encouraged faculty members to pursue funding for a comprehensive evaluation of teaching and learning in the college. The effort, known as the Undergraduate Reform Initiative, was funded by the National Science Foundation and led to curricular changes to improve the quality of the educational experience, including the development of new courses.

Jayaweera is credited with initiating and implementing a variety of programs to bolster student success. He provided space and funding for the college’s Opportunity Center for Science and Mathematics Students, which led to the launch of the college’s Dimensions student research journal; its 14th edition was published this spring on CD.

The Sri Lanka native joined CSUF in 1990 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he had been dean from 1985-1990 and before that a physics professor and associate professor of geophysics.

Jayaweera earned his Ph.D. in physics at the University of London and B.S. in physics at the University of Ceylon. He went on to became a U.S. citizen and was selected by the National Academy of Sciences to serve as a U.S. delegate to the First Special Assembly of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics in Melbourne in 1974.

His research activities included work in the areas of air pollution, cloud physics, atmospheric radiation and global climate changes.

He is survived by his wife, Irma; their three grown children, Anita, Eric and Tina; and five grandchildren. A memorial is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, at their home in Beaverton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Fund, 2600 Nutwood Ave. Ste 850, Fullerton, CA 92831, on behalf of the Kolf Jayaweera Scholarship Fund.

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