Professor remembered for his dedication to students and U of L

A memorial service will be held Saturday for professor Bhagwan Dua, a longtime department chair and dean at the University of Lethbridge.

Hired as a political science professor in 1977, Dua was named department chair in 1983 and then Dean of Arts and Science from 1991 to 2002. He died earlier this month while on vacation in Hawaii.

“He was a very good teacher, a good administrator and a genuinely nice guy,” says political scientist Peter McCormick, a longtime U of L colleague. “He was my closest friend on campus and I thought of myself as one of his staunchest allies. I’m really going to miss him.”

Born in India in 1936, he and his family were forced to move with only a few belongings when the country was partitioned in 1947 to create Pakistan. After arriving in New Delhi, Dua became “a street urchin,” repairing bicycles instead of continuing his education. But at the urging of family members, he successfully wrote his Grade 10 exams and won a clerical job with the new government of India.

That sparked his interest in further education, and Dua went on to earn undergraduate and master’s degrees in political science and public administration at Punjab University. After earning another master’s degree at Leeds University in England, he was accepted on a full scholarship program and earned his PhD at the University of Alberta — and was promptly hired by the U of L.

His years as dean included times of significant funding cuts by the Ralph Klein government, but Dua is remembered for helping faculty members deal with those challenges.

“He was the right man at the right time for Arts and Science,” says Andy Hakin, provost and vice-president (academic) at the U of L.

“He was a kind, gentle soul and a good leader. People came first and he genuinely loved the university.” Dua’s priorities never wavered — students and the U of L. Colleagues say his main concern was for people, and his approach was always to help make things better. He would remember details about people’s lives and follow up on them during their next conversation.

“It was his leadership that inspired a lot of us in administration to go on,” says Hakin. “He could get things done, he never lost sight of what was important and you wanted to do things for him.”

Dua also wrote many papers and books, served on many U of L committees and returned to India briefly to serve as vice-president of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute in New Delhi. He also continued to teach at U of L on a post-retirement contract until 2011.

The memorial service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Martin Brothers Funeral Chapel, 610 4 St. S.

The university will lower its flag from Friday morning until Monday morning in his honour.