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Vepa Rao, former HT Sunday magazine editor, dies aged 76
Professor Vepa Rao, senior journalist and professor of journalism for more than three decades, died after a brief illness at his brother’s home in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon, his family said
Professor Vepa Rao, senior journalist and professor of journalism for more than three decades, died after a brief illness at his brother’s home in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon, his family said. Rao was 76.
According to family members, Rao suffered brain haemorrhage at his Shimla residence a few months back after a fall and had recovered. He had gone to Hyderabad to spend winters with his family, where he suffered another brain stroke on October 10, and was in a coma since then.
Rao, who was not married, will be cremated on Tuesday morning.
Born on January 28, 1946, in Andhra Pradesh, Rao was educated in his home state and later at Calcutta University and did his journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Rao worked as editor of the Sunday Magazine of the Hindustan Times for close to a decade before he decided to join academics in 1987.
It was during a chance visit to Shimla in 1986 during a journalism trip that he got attracted to the scenic beauty of Himachal Pradesh. A year later, he joined the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, as a Resident Fellow and worked on Communication and Development. His research was published in the form of a book titled “A Curve in Hills”.
At the end of his research assignment, the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, invited him to head its Journalism and Mass Communication Department in 1990. He also served as a journalism professor at IIMC Dhenkanal from 1996-97 before returning to HPU on the same post.
In 1997, the Himachal Pradesh government awarded him the state award for Development Journalism. He was also awarded an honorary D. Lit by the HPU for his contribution to the field of journalism. He retired from HPU in 2006 and was re-employed for a year in 2010 by the university under the UGC’s re-employment scheme. He also served as an editorial advisor in The Statesman newspaper till 2018.
Professor Rao had mentored hundreds of students in journalism department in HPU and IIMC and enabled them to enter journalism. He was known for taking students on journalistic study tours during the course and getting them first-hand experience of different aspects of journalism. Rao is also credited with getting jobs for many of his students in different publications.
