Historian, political analyst and specialist in ethnic studies and conflict resolution. Graduated in History from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (1955) and holds a PhD (1959-61) and D.Litt. from the University of London (1991). He was Foundation Professor of Sri Lanka History at the University of Peradeniya (1969-95), and was the Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy/Colombo since its establishment in 1982 until December 2005. He was a member of the University Grants Commission, Colombo, Sri Lanka (1979-89) and its Vice Chairman (1985-89).
He has been Smuts Visiting Fellow in Commonwealth Studies and Visiting Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge (1968-69); Commonwealth Visiting Professor in the Department of Government, University of Manchester (1976-77); and Fulbright Scholar in Residence, and Visiting Professor of History at Bowdoin College, Maine (1985-86). He was a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington DC from October 1991 to July 1992.
Professor K M de Silva was selected as the Academic Prize Laureate (2002) of the 13th Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prizes for his “unparalleled contribution to historical studies of Sri Lanka’s colonial period” and for his work on “ethnic studies (and) conflict resolution.”
His publications include: A History of Sri Lanka (Revised Edition, New Delhi, 2005); Regional Powers and Small State Security: India and Sri Lanka, 1977-1990 (Washington DC, 1995) and Reaping the Whirlwind: Ethnic Politics, Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka (Penguin, India, 1998).