He received his BSc special honors degree in Mathematics from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1980, his MS degree in Computer Science in 1984 and PhD in Applied Linear Algebra from Ohio University in 1989.

Prof. Gunawardena’s research interest include Computational Mathematics, Human Computer Interaction and Data Mining. He is particularly interested in creating usable, smart and Adaptive Educational Software.

Prof. Ananda Gunawardena is the Founder and Chairman of TextCentric, whose proprietary Adaptive Content Technology (ACT) is used by the largest publishing group in the U.S., Pearson Custom Publishing. The TextCentric subsidiary in Sri Lanka employs over 40 software engineers in Colombo and is the premier e-learning company in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Gunawardena is the Founder and President of the Sri Lankan American Association of Western Pennsylvania, which collected over $625,000 from U.S. Foundations to rebuild tsunami damaged schools in Sri Lanka.

He is also the creator of the Adaptive Book TM and Adaptive Testing Systems (ATS), the author of 2 college level textbooks on Computational Mathematics, as well as over 30 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Gunawardena is also the recipient of the Service Award from the Jesse Jones Foundation and Leadership in Technology from the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.