Professor Emeritus Naren Chitty, AM
BIO-DATA
Professor Emeritus Naren Chitty AM, now in his seventy-fifth year, has had two careers, the more recent one in university education and the first in the service of Sri Lanka at home and abroad. Embarking on a career in tertiary education at Macquarie University in 1989, he founded the Department of International Communication, The Journal of International Communication, and the Soft Power Analysis and Resource Centre (SPARC). He served in positions of Dean, Associate Dean and Head of Department. Today, he continues to direct SPARC as Professor Emeritus. He was recognized in 2009 by the Commonwealth of Australia “for services to education, particularly in the field of international communications as a researcher and academic and to a range of professional associations” through investiture as a Member of the Order of Australia (A.M.). He served as Secretary General of the International Association for Media and Communication Research in 1996-2000 – the first Sri Lankan Australian as well as first Australian of any origin to do so.
Prior to migrating to Australia, Professor Emeritus Chitty has served as Counsellor of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC, Consultant to the Ministry of State, Deputy Director of the NGO Community Development Services, and UNDP Young Professional in the Ministry of Planning & Economic Affairs. As Consultant to the Ministry of State, he had responsibility for the television planning portfolio under the Permanent Secretary; and was Co-Director of the National Television Planning Centre, and a Director of ITN. As Counsellor in Washington DC, he handled the public diplomacy portfolio covering a wide range of subjects. He was responsible for convening the first meetings at the Sri Lanka Chancery in Washington DC, circa 1983, of the group that set up the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, a proposal of his. The Foundation’s annual Arthur C. Clarke Innovator awardees have included Elon Musk (2011), Jeffrey Bezos (2016), Stephen Hawking (2017), Lord Martin Rees (2019), and Dr Michio Kaku (2021) – a butterfly effect the extent of which continues to amaze him.
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Professor Emeritus Chitty had his education at Bousfield School in London, Royal Primary School in Colombo, and Trinity College in Kandy. His undergraduate studies in communication were at the University of Westminster, London and his graduate training was at the School of International Studies of the American University in Washington DC, where he earned a PhD in International Relations. His published doctoral thesis was entitled Framing South Asian Regional Transformation: An examination of regional views on South Asian cooperation. He is the author/co-author/co-editor of numerous articles, chapters and books on intercultural relations, international communication, influence, media theory, propaganda, public diplomacy, and soft power. He was the lead editor of the first and second issues of the Routledge Handbook of Soft Power and is Series Editor of Anthem Studies in Soft Power and Public Diplomacy. He has been principal supervisor of over thirty PhD projects. His visiting professorships have included University of Paris III – Sorbonne (Paris), Communication University of China (Beijing), Southwest University of Politics and Law (Chongqing), Jilin University (Changchun), South China Normal University (Guangzhou), and Universiti Kebangsaan (Bangi).
Following schooling, Professor Emeritus Chitty first freelanced as a journalist and then worked as a Design Assistant to architect Valentine Gunasekera. He held an exhibition of paintings with Sita Parakrama and Brigadier Mohan Madawela at the Lionel Wendt Gallery, and his interest in painting continues to this date. He also engages in writing poetry, and an issue of The Ceylankan has published his play-in-verse about Prince Vijaya.
The Ceylon Society of Australia Committee warmly welcomes Members and Guests
Sunday 25 August – 6.30-8.30 pm – General Meeting
Venue: Pennant Hills Community Centre, Main Hall on Level 1, Ramsay Road, Pennant Hills, NSW 2120.
The CSA Committee warmly welcomes Members and Guests to the General Meeting.
A donation to defray catering expenses for the Social following on from the talk would be appreciated, and bringing a plate of food would also be welcomed.
The speaker for the meeting will be Emeritus Professor Naren Chitty, AM, who will talk on “Life in British Ceylon – 1850 to 1950”.
