Dr. Kingsley Bernard leaves SLIIT Business School

Kingsley Bernard, a well-known business leader, a veteran marketer and a management guru, bids good-bye to SLIIT Business School having served for about seven years as a senior lecturer and held the positions of the Head, Department of Business Management and the Department of Information Management in addition to other official assignments he was responsible for.

He had taken a number of initiatives to develop and promote the Faculty of Business in its very inception. He was mainly responsible in creating a strong link between the Faculty of Business and the Corporate Business world through his rich hands on experience with the corporate business sector. He was also the first coordinator of the inaugural MBA program of SLIIT Business School. 

He joined SLIIT as a Senior Lecturer in 2014, attached to the Faculty of Business, having completed an excellent corporate career for more than three and a half decades. He has held senior and top management positions both in the public and private sector institutions in Sri Lanka and has completed a few assignments for international agencies. 

Kingsley Bernard is highly respected in the corporate world for his significant contribution to the development of export sector of Sri Lanka having held the positions of Director-Marketing of the Export Development Board (EDB), Management Consultant of Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC), Vice-President of the Exporters Association of Sri Lanka (EASL) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and President of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) during a vibrant era for the export sector in Sri Lanka (Decade of Exports 1990-2000 and beyond).

During his tenure of office as the CEO of Dankotuwa Porcelain PLC, the company was adjudged the ‘Most Outstanding Exporter of the Year’ for three consecutive years at the NCE Export Awards Ceremony, ushering a golden era in company’s history. He was also the Chairman of the Joint Business Forum of Trade Chambers of Sri Lanka (JBiz).

His outstanding leadership qualities earned him to be the first President of the Students Council of Jaffna University and the President of the Science Student’s Union as well. As a student leader he vigorously promoted ethnic harmony within and outside the university community. He is also a keen social worker and was elected as the District Governor of Lions International District 306B2, in 2009-2010 and the District enjoyed an outstanding year of Lionism.

While working in the corporate sector he also served as a Visiting Lecturer for the Post Graduate Faculty of the University of Colombo since 1987 to 2008 un-interruptedly and served as a Visiting Lecturer to the Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya and Open University of Sri Lanka, teaching post graduate students subjects such as marketing management and global marketing. He holds a PhD from the Management and Science University (MSU) of Malaysia, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Colombo, Post Graduate Diploma in International Marketing from Colorado State University (CSU), USA and Bachelor of Science Degree (BSc) from the University of Jaffna. 

He has received specialised training in Export Development and Computer Software from CIB-Netherlands and CICC-Japan respectively among many other professional qualifications. He has authored a substantial number of articles for international journals and published three books.

He was also a former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy (SLCARP). Group Director of Capital Maharaja Organization and Daya Group of Companies, Deputy Director-Marketing of the Agricultural Development Authority, Managing Director of Walker and Grieg, and Senior Manager of Unilever-Sri Lanka are among other appointments held by him. He hopes to continue in the higher education sector during the rest of his career.