Chemistry Drives Greyhound Alumna

By Todd Fuqua and Desiree Cooper

Jayamini Mudugamuwa Hewage (MS 18) is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Mississippi State University, teaching chemistry to undergraduate students along the way.

Arriving in Portales, New Mexico, from Sri Lanka, Jayamini pursued chemistry with a passion, having fallen in love with the subject in high school. She knew then that any advanced degrees she earned would be in pursuit of chemistry.

“Color changes, observable chemical and physical changes in matter made me love it even more,” Jayamini said.

Jayamini Mudugmuwa Hewage, left, husband Dhanush Amarasekara, with their child, Adithya.

She also was in love with fellow chemistry graduate Dhanush Amarasekara (MS 19). The two are married and have a child, Adithya. Dhanush is a graduate chemistry research assistant at Mississippi State.

Teaching her favorite subject to students in Mississippi while continuing herresearch is rewarding, and she looks forward to continuing both after sheearns a Ph.D. She recently gave a graduate seminar at Mississippi State onOct. 26, 2021, titled “Detection of cancer cells using electrochemical sensors.”

“Chemistry is a wonderful subject; it gets updated every second,” Jayamini said. “The limit of learning is endless. You don’t have to be the smartest to study chemistry, just be consistent and keep in touch with the subject. I love what I do.”