Major General Milinda Peiris joined the Sri Lanka Army as an Officer Cadet in 1980 and had his basic training at the Officers Training School in Madras, India and at Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa. He was commissioned into the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment Sri Lanka Armoured Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant on completion of his training. Since then, he held vital and important appointments in the Army commensurate with each rank held, and he reached the pinnacle of his military career in 2016 when he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. Major General Milinda Peiris is a graduate of National Defence College, New Delhi, Command and Staff College, Bangladesh and Armour School, Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA.

As a pioneer squadron commander of 4 Armoured Regiment, he led tank squadrons to many crucial battles, and he commanded the 5th Reconnaissance Regiment of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps with distinction. He was also the Commanding Officer of the Officer Cadet Wing at the Sri Lanka Military Academy. Subsequently, he commanded the 561 Infantry Brigade and 232 Infantry Brigade. Thereafter, he commanded the Armoured Brigade. He was the Director Operations at the Joint Operations Headquarters and had been appointed as the Defence, Military, Naval and Air Attaché for Sri Lanka in the USA.

Major General Milinda Peiris Commanded the 22 Division in Trincomalee as the General Officer Commanding during the period of liberation of the East by the Security Forces.

On return from National Defence College in India, he was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) on 28 December 2008. Under his patronage, the university expanded to be a fully-fledged university consisting of nine academic faculties, and he was instrumental in developing KDU to lead in the world of tertiary education, lighting the torch of wisdom in thousands of students both local and foreign.

Especially, during his first tenure as the Vice Chancellor, he took an untiring effort to establish the Medical Faculty of KDU, which became nationally and internationally known for its unique ability to produce military medical graduates of the highest caliber to fulfill the healthcare requirements of the tri-services, state sector and society at large.

Further, he introduced the University Hospital concept for Sri Lanka by providing a tertiary care hospital for KDU and accomplished mammoth projects while serving in this capacity until 17 February 2016.

During his service as the Vice Chancellor of KDU he was contemporaneously appointed as the Director General of the Centre for Research and Development, Ministry of Defence (MOD), Military Secretary to the Army Headquarters and Colonel Commandant of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment and also served as the Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps.

In recognition of his contribution to Sri Lanka’s higher education sector, Major General Milinda Peiris was appointed as a Committee Member in the National Education Commission. He was a Member of the Board of Management of the National Defence College, Board of Management of the Defence Services Command & Staff College, the Standing Committee on Quality Assurance and Accreditation of the University Grant Commission and the Committee of Vice Chancellors & Directors (CVCD), Sri Lanka.

Major General Milinda Peiris holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree awarded by the University of Madras, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), and a Diploma in Senior Level Defence Management from the University of Indore, India.

During his military career, he valiantly fought in many battles launched to eradicate ruthless terrorism from the motherland in different capacities ranging from a Troop Leader to a Divisional Commander. During his tour of duty, he was severely wounded in action in the Operation “Sathjaya III”. He is a recipient of Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) for his acts of bravery in the face of the enemy and Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) awarded for distinguished conduct in the face of the enemy in battle.

He is also a recipient of Vishishta Seva Vibhushana (VSV) medal for exceptional, distinguished and loyal service in the Sri Lanka Army and Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP) for his unblemished military career in the Army.

He was awarded the Legion of Merit (LOM), which is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.

In July 2014, Major General Milinda Peiris was conferred with the “Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education” by the World Chancellors and Vice Chancellors Congress in recognition of “the strategic and iconic position occupied by him in the fraternity of Vice Chancellors as an agent of change in global education. Further, he was conferred with the “Education Leadership Award” by the World Education Congress on 23 July 2015.

Subsequent to a 7-year stint at KDU, he reached the pinnacle of his career when he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. And after rending his services as the Chief of Staff, Major General Milinda Peries stepped into retirement in 2016.

In 2019 Major General Milinda Peries was recalled to service by His Excellency the President and he was reappointed as the Vice Chancellor of the KDU and was also appointed as the Chief Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Scouts Association.

Further, he served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL), a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Vocational Technology, a member of the Council, University of Moratuwa, a Member of the Board of Management of Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations & Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS).

As he ended nearly 11 years of dedicated service to KDU on 31st August 2023, he left this unique portal of higher education, having elevated it to be a very prominent university in South Asia with state-of-the-art facilities in 11 academic faculties offering over 50 internationally recognized high-quality degree programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Major General Milinda is married to Nilan, a lawyer by profession and is blessed with two sons, Malik and Avinash.