This article in USA Today is the first attempt by Ray Jayawardhana, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of astronomy, to write about his father—his inspiration and most difficult subject.
“My father was always writing, as far back as I can remember,” Jayawardhana writes in the piece. “Whenever he found more than a moment for himself, he was buried in a book or writing longhand on foolscap paper with multiple open tomes and shoeboxes full of notecards scattered on his desk. His writing was eclectic, to say the least, ranging from short stories to children’s books to scholarly articles and general interest volumes on the history and archaeology of Sri Lanka, where I grew up."
Sreang Hok/Cornell University
At center, holding her award, is Abra Geiger ’26, recipient of the 2026 University Relations Campus-Community Leadership Award. Left to right, with her are Erik Herman, creative director of the Free Science Workshop/Ithaca Physics Bus; Kyle Kimball, vice president for university relations; Cassaundra Guzman, McNair Program advisor/coordinator; and Marla Love, Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students.
