Janan Jayawickramarajah

Elisabeth Martin Armstrong Dean; Professor of Chemistry

As dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Janarthanan “Janan” Jayawickramarajah provides academic and strategic leadership for the College. He works with faculty, department chairs, associate deans, staff and University leadership to establish priorities, guide academic and research initiatives, and steward the College’s resources.

Dean Jayawickramarajah’s responsibilities include advancing faculty excellence, strengthening undergraduate and graduate education, supporting innovative scholarship, and fostering an environment in which students, faculty and staff can thrive. He also works with alumni, donors, community organizations and institutional partners to advance the College’s academic priorities and strengthen its contributions to Dallas and beyond.

Biography

Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah is the Elisabeth Martin Armstrong Dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and a professor of chemistry at Southern Methodist University. A nationally recognized chemistry scholar and academic leader, he joined SMU in June 2025.

An active researcher, Jayawickramarajah studies supramolecular chemistry, nucleic acids chemistry, nanobiotechnology, self-assembly and advanced materials. His research group develops bio-inspired functional molecules capable of specific molecular recognition, with potential applications in drug delivery, biosensing, disease detection and advanced soft materials. His work has received support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, among others.

Before joining SMU, Jayawickramarajah spent 17 years at Tulane University, where he was a professor of chemistry and led a nanobiotechnology research laboratory. He served as associate dean for research, faculty affairs and Ph.D. programs and later as senior associate dean for academic affairs in Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering. In those roles, he helped expand research opportunities, secure institutional funding and improve academic facilities and technology. He also founded Tulane’s Science Policy and Communication Graduate Fellows Program, which prepares graduate students to communicate scientific ideas effectively and become leaders in science, engineering and medicine.

Jayawickramarajah earned a bachelor's degree with honors in chemistry and a minor in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his doctoral degree. in organic chemistry from The University of Texas at Austin and completed postdoctoral research at Yale University. He is the recipient of Tulane’s Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award, Graduate Studies Student Association Outstanding Faculty Award and inaugural School of Science and Engineering Faculty Service Award. In 2023, the Department of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2025, he was inducted as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.