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Sir Arthur C Clarke

	Sir Arthur C Clarke is the author of over 100 books and more than 1,000 essays or short stories. Born in Minehead, Somerset, UK, in 1917, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School, Taunton, and King's College, London. He worked in the British civil service and the Royal Air Force before turning full time author and explorer in 1950.
	He is best known as the inventor of the communications satellite (1945). His writing also inspired the World Wide Web and the Apollo project that landed men on the Moon. He made many appearances on radio and television, and his TV series 'Mysterious World', 'World of Strange Powers' and 'Mysterious Universe' have been seen worldwide.
	In the 1950s, Clarke's interest in underwater exploration brought him to Sri Lanka, where he lived since 1956 until his demise in 2008. He was technical advisor to the diving company Underwater Safaris Ltd., and for half a century, he wrote and broadcasted extensively promoting Sri Lanka as a tourist destination.

	He became the first ‘Resident Guest’ of the island in 1975 (but he remains a British citizen todate). President Jayewardene appointed him Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa in 1979 – a position Clarke held until 2002. In 1984, the government named a newly established Institute for Modern Technologies in his honour. While Clarke remained its Patron, he was not associated with its research, administration or management.
	Clarke received many awards, fellowships and honours from around the world, including several doctorates. He shared with Stanley Kubrick an Oscar nomination in 1969 for his screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for ‘services to literature’. Sri Lanka has bestowed on him the highest honours, including: • Vidya Jyothi (‘Luminary of Science) award from the President of Sri Lanka, 1986 • Sahithyaratna (‘Gem of Literature’) lifetime achievement award from National Arts Council, Sri Lanka, 2005 • Lankabhimanya (‘Pride of Lanka’), highest civilian honour from the President of Sri Lanka, 2005
	For further biographical and bibliographical information, please visit the website of the Arthur C Clarke Foundation, a US-based not-for-profit organization: http://www.clarkefoundation.org
	Last updated: 17 April 2009