Dr.Claribelle Ivy de Fonseka was a dedicated teacher of Microbiology who spent nearly forty years as a teacher of Medical Microbiology in Universities in Sri Lanka and abroad. After her education at Newstead College - Negombo, Girls High School- Kandy and Methodist College –Colombo, she entered the University of Ceylon in 1952 to read for the MBBS. She excelled in her studies and obtained an upper second in the Final MBBS examination and qualified as a medical graduate in 1958. After serving in the Department of Health for six years she joined the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo in 1964 to embark on an academic career. She obtained the Diploma in Microbiology from the prestigious London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1968 and her PhD from the University of London in 1972. On her return she served as Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Chair of Microbiology and as Head of the Department. Her main research interests were Candida, Group B streptococcus and Chlamydia. She was the Chairperson of the Board of Study in Microbiology when the first MD Microbiology course of the PGIM commenced. She was appointed the President of the College of Microbiologists in 1986. She took early retirement from the University of Colombo in 1988 and joined King Faizal University, Saudi Arabia as a Professor in Microbiology where she was held in high esteem. From her return to the island in 1997 till retirement she was a visiting Professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of University of Sri Jayawardene. She was a dedicated teacher, who kept up to date with the subject and was meticulous and exacting in her bench work as vouched for by her students and technical officers and a strict administrator who still managed to be appreciated and loved by all.
