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College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Psychology

Dharam Yadav

Dharam Yadav

Dharam Yadav (1939 - 2013)
Emeritus Professor

Education
  • B.Sc. St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, 1958
  • M.A. Delhi University, 1960
  • Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1967

 
A Brief History

Dr. Dharam Pal Yadav passed away peacefully in Boston, Mass., on April 4, 2013, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was surrounded by those that he loved most, his beloved and devoted wife of 41 years, Meena, and his three children, Pramila Rajni Yadav, M.D., Anuradha Yadav, Esq., and Sanjeev Pal Yadav, all of Boston, Mass. He is also survived by his younger sister, Krishna Yadav and brother-in-law, Mahendar S. Yadav, of Delhi, India, who were also present.

He was born on Feb. 22, 1939, in Haiderpur village, Delhi, India. He was the son of the late Lakhi Chand and Bhawti Yadav. He was predeceased by his older brother, Kanwar Pal Yadav in 2011. Dharam had a special place in his heart for his niece and nephew, Vinnie and Surender Yadav of Delhi, India, and Toronto, Canada, for their constant love and support throughout the years. In 1957, he completed his B.S. in the Physical Sciences, with honors and high distinction, from St. Stephens College, Delhi, India, which is supported by the Cambridge University Mission of England. He went on to receive his Master's Degree in Social Sciences from Delhi University.

Upon finishing his Master's, he worked as a Research Officer at All India Radio and Television on a project concerned with the development of educational television programs in literacy, health care, and urban community development. He then joined the National Indian Planning Commission, working on development projects in partnership with the Ford Foundation. It was here he met Dr. Everett Rogers, the internationally recognized communications scholar, who encouraged Dharam to consider pursuing doctoral studies in the United States.

Dharam joined Dr. Rogers at the University of Michigan in 1964, and went on to complete his Ph.D. in Communications at Michigan State University in 1967, under the advisement of Dr. Rogers. His doctoral thesis focused on Communication Structure and Innovation Diffusion in Indian Villages. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dharam led research at George Washington University with respect to training in intercultural communication and in management and organizational communication.

In 1970, Dharam joined the faculty of the University of Vermont (UVM), where he was a professor of Communications and Psychology, with a focus on teaching and research of the cognitive sciences, media communications, cross-cultural psychology, and media psychology. During his tenure at UVM, he was chairman of the Department of Communications and served on a number of university committees including the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate Executive Council, and the Enrollment Management Council.

The values of a commitment to lifelong education and learning, hard work, and understanding that "to whom much is given, much is expected" were so important to Dharam. It was these virtues that he constantly conveyed to his children, nieces, nephews, and countless students and advisees over a 42-year teaching career at UVM. A kind and gentle soul with an inquisitive mind, a compassionate and humble man, whose family meant the world to him, Dharam enjoyed traveling and spending time with his children, discussing Indian and global history and religion, and walking in the evenings in his neighborhood in Shelburne, where he had lived since 1974.

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