The faculty of social sciences, in terms of student population, is the largest faculty in the University of Kelaniya. Although it was instituted in the academic year 1981/82, its constituted of the University, itself.

At the beginning, the Vidyalankara University, the predecessor of the University of Kelaniya, consisted of several faculties of which the faculty of Arts was divided into two namely, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities. Owing mainly to their common origin, these two faculties still maintain a close relationship.

The academic staff of the departments represents a fine blend of academicians and professionals. While the traditional disciplines of History, Archeology, Geography, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology strengthen the academic content of the faculty, the new departments like Mass Communication, Library & Information Science and Sport Science & Physical Education have opened their doors to professionals. The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Kelaniya was the first to house department of Mass Communication and department of Sport Science & Physical Education in a university in Sri Lanka.

Prof. M.M. Gunathilake
Dean - Faculty of Social Sciences
Proffessor in Economics
Department of Economics, University of Kelaniya

Prof. M.M. Gunathilake was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The appointment letter was handed over to the Dean by the Vice- Chancellor, Prof. D.M. Semasinghe on the 16^th of December 2019 at the Vice- Chancellor’s Office.

Prof. M.M. Gunathilake obtained his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Kelaniya. He was awarded a Commonwealth (Split-site) Doctoral Scholarship from University of Cambridge and gained a fellowship at University of Durham. Development Economics: Rural Economy, Food Security are some of his research interests while Intermediate Microeconomics, Advanced Microeconomics, and Mathematics for Economics are his research interests. Precautionary Savings and Social Safety Net: An Empirical Study on Rural Households in Sri Lanka, Consumer Adoption of Internet Banking in Sri Lanka, Drought and Household Food Security in Rural Sri Lanka, Coping strategies of Vulnerable Farm Households in Developing Countries: A Review of Literature are some of his publications.