J.R. Jayewardene

Junius Richard Jayewardene (September 17, 1906 – November 1, 1996), commonly known as J.R. Jayewardene, was the 2nd President of Sri Lanka and the country's first Executive President, serving from 1978 to 1989. He is widely regarded as the architect of modern Sri Lanka's economic and political system. As President, he introduced the executive presidency, the open economy policy, and the 1978 Constitution that transformed Sri Lanka from a socialist to a market-oriented economy. He was a key figure in Sri Lankan politics for over four decades, having served as Prime Minister (1960, 1965-1970) and Finance Minister before becoming President. Jayewardene studied law at the Ceylon Law College and was called to the bar. His economic reforms made Sri Lanka one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia during the 1980s, though his presidency also saw the beginning of the ethnic conflict and the Black July pogrom of 1983.