School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences

Rukshan Fernando, Ph.D., MSW, is an associate professor in the Department of Undergraduate Social Work. Prior to joining the faculty at Azusa Pacific University, Dr. Fernando served as an assistant professor and field coordinator at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, for eight years. Dr. Fernando’s teaching interests are community organizing and development, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit management. In addition to teaching, his research interests focus on nonprofit management, international development, and community participation. Dr. Fernando has also served as a consultant to World Vision Sri Lanka and has been a guest lecturer at the Colombo Theological Seminary in Sri Lanka. Prior to becoming a social work educator, Dr. Fernando served as the associate director of Housing Unlimited, Inc., an affordable-housing organization that serves people with psychiatric disabilities in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Fernando is involved with the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, the Association of Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA), the Community Development Society, and the Council on Social Work Education. He and his wife have two children and enjoy travel, the outdoors, and all types of ethnic food.