Dilanthi’s current achievements are part of a development process that started several years ago when she began her academic career as a lecturer at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka in 1994, which she began immediately after the completion of BSc (Quantity Surveying) Degree with First Class Honours at the same University.

Subsequently, in October 1997, she was awarded the prestigious Overseas Research Scholarship Award, which enabled her to begin her doctoral studies at the University of Salford, UK. In 2001, she received her PhD and since then, she has continued to develop her research in a manner that demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence, to encouraging colleagues and students to fulfil their full potential, and to promoting the University as a leading institution within the subject discipline of the built environment. The key contributions Dilanthi has made have been in providing leadership within the international research community, within the University and peer respected research in issues relating to capability building within a construction context. The strengths she has brought to these activities are critical scholarship and leadership.

Dilanthi’s commitment to excellence and her leadership qualities have been recognised with promotion and additional management responsibilities. After five years at Salford as an Overseas Research Award scholar, Research Assistant/Part-Time Lecturer, and then a Research Fellow, she became a Lecturer at then the School of Construction and Property Management in 2002. Dilanthi was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004 at the School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK. In 2007, Dilanthi was promoted to the post of Professor with a focus on disaster management that has influenced her work since then. She has moved to the University of Huddersfield in September 2014 and will continue her research and scholarship in disaster resilience whilst leading its Global Disaster Resilience centre.