Rev Wadigala Samitharathana

Rev Wadigala Samitharathana is a Glorisun Scholar in Buddhist Studies at St Cross College, University of Oxford. He is a scholarly-practitioner Buddhist monk, who was ordained at the age of fourteen in Sri Lanka. He previously studied Ethics, Epistemology, and Metaphysics at SOAS University of London (MA), Oxford Brookes University (BA Hons), and the University of Peradeniya (UGC) in Sri Lanka.

Rev Samitharathana has been awarded several prestigious awards, including the Glorisun Graduate Scholarship (Oxford), Tibet Foundation Award (SOAS), International Student Scholarship Award (Oxford Brookes), Outstanding Young Buddhist Scholar Award (Thailand), and so forth. He has given presentations in Oxford, Paris, New York, Berlin, Zürich, and Colombo, and television interviews and podcasts.

In 2023, Rev Samitharathana founded the Oxford Buddhist Society, and serves as its Founding President. He also serves as the Welfare Representative (male) of the SRC for 2024/25 at St Cross College. More information about Rev Samitharathana’s accomplishments can be found in St Cross College’s article.