Founder of The Hardy

Its very rarely that we come across a man who has lived a full life. In the case of professor Evan Alan Hardy it was life lived for the well-being of mankind. Born on the 1^st of October,1890 In Sioux City, lowa ,USA Evan Hardy began his life in a humble farm. Having obtained the B.sc. in Agricultural Engineering from the lowa State College in 1917 he joined the Academic staff of the university of Saskatchewan in the same year and served for over thirty years in that university until he was called upon to take up the UN/FAO assignment as adviser to the department of agriculture, Government of Sri Lanka(then Ceylon)in 1951.His expertise was available to the Maha Illuppalama Agriculture center at the beginning and later he was selected to organize and direct a program of training and set up a Technical Training Institute to enable the government of Sri Lanka to produce its own engineers needed to operate an extensive development program in the Gal-Oya Valley . This program which Prof. Hardy compared to the Tennesse Valley Authority took on the task of irrigation, supplying electricity, improving agriculture techniques, protecting against floods, developing roads, cities and villages in the 1200 square mile area in the historic Digamadulla region.

Form 15^th January , 1956 to time of death in ampara,Sri Lanka on the 4^th December , 1963 toiled hard in the Technical Training Institute not only to make engineers of men who have no mechanical experience but to get them to assume their responsibility ‘on-the-job’. Already there are three educational institutions in the world dedicated to the memory of prof.Even A. Hardy. The Engineering Buildings of the university of Saskatchewan has been named in honor if late Prof. Hardy who was the head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering from 1926 to 1951. The Saskatoon collegiate Board honored Prof. Hardy who served the Board for many years by naming the new college at Central Avenue as Even Hardy Collegiate School’. We in Sri Lanka not only annually pay our tribute to this great son of Canada but also have his name enshrined in the institute. Hardy Senior Technical Institute Ampara , Sri Lanka. The high ideals and grate expectation of the founder Director is yet meterialse. Prof. Hardy –often referred to as the greatest gift form Canada’ desired to build this institute on the models of the Saskatchewan University as an autonomous seat of learning which would cater to the local and south and south-east Asian needs His ultimate goal was to raise the institute to university status with the blending of academic training at the highest level, died a natural death with the passing away of Prof. Hardy .