Dr. Amal Utum Herat: Jack of all trades and master of everything

THE late Dr. Amal Utum Herat, Utum to everybody, ex-Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, was a Jack of all Trades and also a Master of Everything.

- By W.A. Wijewardena

He did excellently in everything he practised.

He was a lay preacher at his Methodist Church in Mount Lavinia, UK-qualified management accountant, master of ceremonies, public speaker, visiting university Don, international civil servant, and an economist par excellence, to mention but a few of the hats he wore simultaneously. Above all, he was a Granda Homo with exceptional human qualities and principles.

I recall how he responded when the Colombo University administration changed the coordinator of its MBA degree program in early 1991. Utum was the lecturer in managerial economics for the MBA students. He felt that there was injustice done to the MBA coordinator when he was removed from the position without following due process. Following the rebellious path which the youth of his age would follow, he protested to the Vice Chancellor in writing and withdrew from the program. With no suitable replacement in sight, the University in desperation reached out to the Central Bank for a solution. The Governor of the Central Bank at that time, the late Nevile Karunatilake, who earlier had helped the University to setup its Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, forerunner to the MBA program, practically ordered me to fill the gap leaving me with no choice. Perhaps, he zeroed on me because I was a pioneering lecturer in that Graduate Diploma program and had taught environmental economics to Colombo University's Master's degree students, two positions I held with Karunatilake's approval when he was the Senior Deputy Governor. When I told Utum that I had to fill the gap he had created, he blessed me wholeheartedly and even supplied me with a copy of the textbook he had been using for his lectures. I did the lectures, but I am still doubtful whether I was a matching replacement to Utum whose lecturing qualities were unparalleled.