Our Founder, Mr. W.P. Perera, was a man of high achievement. He set the tone for his future success from the time he graduated from Ananda College as Head Boy of the school. From then on his life was a steady upward climb.

He did not think of investing in Education until he was approached by a group of businessmen to be Chairman of a proposed International School. He had begun life as a Tea Planter at Carsons and having worked under British employers, he was well versed in British methods of organization. This was never more noticeable than in the way he ran the fledgling new school which he named ‘Asian International School’.

‘Siri’Perera retired as a Planter and went into business for himself. He was a proprietary Estate owner and also a Visiting Agent for Carsons.  He was an entrepreneur of several interests such as investments in new Banks and Hospitals.  He owned about five Tea factories and brought in new equipment which was used for the first time in a Tea factory in the island.

It was my privilege to work with this distinguished gentleman, Mr. W. P. Perera, the Founder of A.I.S. as the first Principal of his school. His total trust and support in whatever I did made it very easy for me and my Staff to take the school to the heights it has reached. At each Board Meeting he would tell me, ‘A.I.S. is the only business I have that gives me no trouble,” and I would count myself blessed to have such a Chairman to work under.

As a good Buddhist he believed in doing Charity.  His main interest was the Cancer Society, and thanks to the influence of his wife, Mrs. Manel Perera, the Cancer Association still receives regular supplies of Tea from his estates.

‘Siri’ Perera remains an icon to the students of A.I.S. His school lives on as a testament to his vision. A.I.S. was totally his creation and he was willing to undertake the enormous financial burden of building such an Institution. His name will always be remembered with gratitude by the many, many students passing each year out of the school he founded.