TO: UNI Faculty and Staff Members FROM: B. Keith Crew, Head, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
Dr. Surendar S. Yadava, Associate Professor of Sociology, died Friday morning, August 23, 2002, at Sartori Memorial Hospital. He was fifty years old. Dr. Yadava was a dedicated teacher. His genuine concern for students was demonstrated most recently when, in the face of university-wide budget cuts, he taught an overload course. Throughout his career at UNI, Dr. Yadava could be found early in the morning in his office, grading papers and fine-tuning his lessons. His door was always open to students and colleagues. Students and colleagues alike will miss his dedication to academic scholarship and service; we will also miss his wry sense of humor.
He represented UNI internationally, through his publications and presentations at international conferences and official visits to India and China. He also taught for a semester at Moscow International University in Russia in 1999. Dr. Yadava earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 from Punjab University in Punjab, India; his Master of Science degree in statistics in 1980 from Punjab Agricultural University; and his Ph. D. in sociology in 1989 from Michigan State University. He joined the UNI faculty in 1989. His primary focus in teaching was statistics, and he conducted significant research in the area of population demographics. He was co-author of two books, Statistical Analysis for Social Sciences, and Migration Studies: Evidence from Rural Field Studies, and author or co-author of over twenty research articles, most recently in the International Journal of Social Development. He was married in 1993 to Lin Feng. They were later divorced. An on-campus memorial service will honor Surendar on Wednesday, September 4, 2002, at 4:00 p.m. in the Great Reading Room of Seerley Hall.