E.O.E. Pereira

Vidya Jyothi E.O.E. Pereira BSc (Lond), BA (Cantab)
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ceylon
In office 1969–1971
Personal details
Born	September 13, 1907 Colombo, Ceylon
Died	1988 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alma mater	Downing College, Cambridge University College Colombo Royal College Colombo
Profession	Engineer, Academic

Vidya Jyothi E.O. Eustace Pereira (September 13, 1907 – 1988) was a Sri Lankan Engineer and Academic. He was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, where he founded the Faculty of Engineering. He was known as the Father of modern engineering education in Sri Lanka.

Pereira was born on September 13, 1907, to George Eustace Pereira, a station master of the Ceylon Government Railway. Pereira received his education at the Royal College, Colombo, where he excelled in both academics and sports. He won the De Soysa Science Prize, the Mohamed Ali Arithmetic Prize, Evams Prize for Mathematics (shared with Danton G. Obyesekere), and he won house colours for cricket. J.R. Jayawardene, the future President of Sri Lanka, and Ceylon cricketer N.S. Joseph were his classmates at Royal College.

In 1928, he entered the University College Colombo and graduated with a first class honours degree from the University of London, gaining first place in the faculty of Science and winning the engineering scholarship. The scholarship enabled him to enter Downing College, Cambridge, where he gained the distinction of being the only graduate to finish the 3 year degree in two years. His contemporaries at Cambridge included Dudley Senanayake, the further Prime Minister of Ceylon. From the University of Cambridge, he graduated with first class honours in Mechanical Sciences Tripos in 1931.

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