Dedication: In Honor of Dr. Everett M. Rogers (1931–2004)

Molefi Kete Asante, Yoshitaka Miike, and Jing Yin

On October 21, 2004, Dr. Everett M. Rogers, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico, passed away peacefully at his home in Albuquerque after a prolonged battle with kidney cancer. It is to his memory that we dedicate this collection of essays written on the theory and practice of intercultural communication. Ev remains monumental in his influence, inspiration, and philosophy in the study of culture and communication. Although there are areas in which we disagreed with him, it is impossible to ignore his profound impact on the way we think about communication across national borders and cultural boundaries. Ev was certainly not alone in advancing the field of intercultural communication (see Rogers & Steinfatt, 1999), but none spoke or wrote with any more clarity of purpose or in such earnestness as Ev.

While he was trained as a rural sociologist, Ev followed in the footsteps of the late Dr. Wilbur Schramm—whom he admired and called “the founder of the field of communication study” (Rogers, 1994, p. 446)—and became a pioneer in the discipline of communication in the United States. For more than a half of a century, his book Diffusion of Innovations (now in its 5th edition in 2003) was a provocative and catalytic work adding to the understanding of how a new idea, practice, or object is disseminated, accepted, or resisted in a given cultural context. In the years after its publication, it was translated into over 15 languages and helped to inspire an entire generation of communicationists and culturalists. He was a lightning rod for some and a magnet for others. Subsequent to its publication, Ev distinguished himself as an icon of international scholarship, the philosophy of development, and the politics of social change. From his theory of diffusion have come numerous books, both scholarly and popular. He became, within a few years of the publication of the first edition of Diffusion of Innovations in 1962, a significant presence in the field of communication. During his 47-year scholarly career, he wrote more than 30 books and 500 articles.

Ev was born in Carroll, Iowa on March 6, 1931. Growing up on a family farm, he was puzzled and frustrated by farmers in his home community, including his father, for their delay in adopting agricultural innovations such as the new hybrid seed corn that could have benefited them. After serving as a U.S. Air Force officer during the Korean War for two years (1952–1954), he returned to Iowa State University, where he received a B.S. (1952) in Agriculture, for graduate work and earned an M.S. (1955) and a Ph.D. (1957) both in Rural Sociology. It was his ambition then to learn something about how innovations spread (see Rogers, 2003, pp. xv–xxi, and Rogers, 2008, for his detailed personal account). What caused some agricultural ideas to be adopted and others rejected? In the course of this worthwhile endeavor, he discovered, among other things, the value of culture and the sustaining power of cultural agency in the transmitting of all messages. He concluded that diffusion is “a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are perceived as new ideas” (Rogers, 2003, p. 35).

While we aptly and eagerly use the ideas and concepts first suggested by Ev as if they were natural, they are indeed ideas that we have inherited from his genius. We are aware of the fact that many marketers and Wharton school graduates do not know that notions of adopters, early or late, majorities, early or late, are Rogerian. Today, we speak of the diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 2003), communication and development (Rogers, 1976), international communication (Rogers, 2002), communication technology (Rogers, 1986), and homophily and heterophily (Rogers & Bhowmik, 1970/1971) with ease, although when Ev began to write these ideas, if they existed, were in the specialized vocabularies of a few enlightened ones in the communication discipline. In the sense that he gave so much of his intellectual energy and moral vision to the problem of human interaction across cultures, he becomes for us one of the enduring symbols of intercultural communication (Hart, 1998, 2005).

Ev’s distinction is that he developed his own special approach to international issues and demonstrated by the evolution of his intellectual interest what ought to be the trajectory of the scholar. The incredible beauty of his work, in an aesthetic form, is that it covered so many areas of communication with the same gentle narration of our common humanity (see Chitty, 2005; Melkote, 2006; Singhal & Dearing, 2006). He is indeed a champion for humanity. Scholars found in his work something of value if they were interested in diffusion theory, a history of communication study, how media communicated the dangers of volcanoes to the public, systems theory, computer-mediated communication, especially the Internet, information theory, cybernetics, intercultural communication, health communication, and terrorism communication. How can one scholar touch so many lives and be read so broadly?

There was nothing in communication under the sun that did not interest Ev. Sometimes when we heard him talk, it was like he knew something about communication everywhere. If one asked him about Africa and the Internet, he was ready with an answer that the lack of strong infrastructures contributed to the lack of Internet access. It was impossible to have strong Internet access without reliable systems like consistent telephones and so forth. If one asked him about Asia, he would say that it was expanding its capacity at a rapid rate and would be the area of greatest growth in the next few years. In classrooms, Ev often shared the mistakes that he had made and the lessons that he had learned in other cultures (sometimes “hard way” as he put it): dining etiquettes and wedding rituals in India, the importance of facework in Indonesia, and the practice of nemawashi in Japan, for example.

When he wrote Diffusion of Innovations in 1962, Ev did not know the route he would take or be taken by his academic interests (see Rogers, 2008; Singhal, 2012). He held faculty positions at Ohio State University (1957–1963), Michigan State University (1964–1973), and the University of Michigan (1973–1975). He was the Janet M. Peck Professor of International Communication at Stanford University (1975–1985) and the Walter H. Annenberg Professor and Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California (1985–1993). As Fulbright Lecturer, he taught at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá (1963–1964) and at the University of Paris in France (1981). He was also Distinguished Visiting Professor at New Mexico State University (1977), Visiting Professor at Ibero-American University in Mexico (1979), Ludwig Erhard Professor at the University of Bayreuth in Germany (1996), Wee Kim Wee Professor (1998) and Nanyang Professor (2000–2001) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University (1999–2000). He served as President of the International Communication Association (1980–1981) and Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California (1991–1992).

At the end of his life, however, Ev had come to believe in the need for intercultural communication so strongly that he had devoted his last years to creating and sustaining a doctoral program at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He chaired the UNM Department of Communication and Journalism from 1993 to 1997. As his role model Schramm founded the first doctoral program in “communication,” he founded the first doctoral program in “intercultural communication” after he successfully gained a total of 14 approvals from various administrative authorities (Rogers, 2008). He was instrumental in writing a program overview, developing a curriculum, and securing funds. During New Mexico days, he also focused some of his intensive energy on intercultural communication, especially its intellectual histories (e.g., Rogers, 1997, 1999, 2000; Rogers & Hart, 2002; Rogers, Hart, & Miike, 2003; Rogers & Steinfatt, 1999). He was a giant scholar and wonderful teacher. But, above all, he was an excellent mentor (see Adhikarya, 2004; Backer & Singhal, 2005; Miike, 2005; Shukla, 2006). Throughout his career, he directed over 70 dissertations and about 50 M.A. theses.

Ev was open to new ideas and different perspectives. He liked “a healthy critical stance” as he often put it. He wrote at the end of Preface in the 5th edition of Diffusion of Innovations: “We do not need more-of-the-same diffusion research. The challenge for diffusion scholars of the future is to move beyond the proven methods and models of the past, to recognize their shortcomings and limitations, and to broaden their conceptions of the diffusion of innovations” (p. xxi). Echoing his message as it applies to the field of intercultural communication, we present this volume in the hope that we will take future academic pursuits in culture and communication studies with such a challenging mind. Then, it is to his memory that we will carry forward the spirit of humanity along with diversity that he taught us.

References

Adhikarya, R. (2004). A personal tribute to Everett Rogers. Media Asia: An Asian Mass Communication Quarterly, 31(3), 123–126.

Backer, T. E., & Singhal, A. (Ed.). (2005). The life and work of Everett Rogers: Some personal reflections [Forum section]. Journal of Health Communication, 10(4), 285–308.

Balas, G. R. (Producer). (2005). Remembering Ev Rogers [Film]. Albuquerque, NM: Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico.

Chitty, N. (2005). Introduction: The passing of Everett M. Rogers. Journal of International Communication, 11(1), 7–14.

Hart, W. B. (1998). An interview with Everett M. Rogers: On the past and future of intercultural relations study. The Edge: The E-Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1(3). Available: http://www.interculturalrelations.com/v1i3Summer1998/sum98hartrogers.htm.

Hart, W. B. (2005). Everett M. Rogers: His role in intercultural communication study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(4), 491–495.

Melkote, S. R. (2006). Everett M. Rogers and his contributions to the field of communication and social change in developing countries. Journal of Creative Communication, 1(1), 111–121.

Miike, Y. (2005, November). Hard work, humility, and a sense of caring: Ev as I remember him. Commemorative speech delivered at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Rogers, E. M. (Ed.). (1976). Communication and development: Critical perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Rogers, E. M. (1986). Communication technology: The new media in society. New York, NY: Free Press.

Rogers, E. M. (1994). A history of communication study: A biographical approach. New York, NY: Free Press.

Rogers, E. M. (1997). Communication study in North America and Latin America. World Communication, 26(3/4), 51–60.

Rogers, E. M. (1999). Georg Simmel’s concept of stranger and intercultural communication research. Communication Theory, 9(1), 58–74.

Rogers, E. M. (2000). The extensions of men: The correspondence of Marshall McLuhan and Edward T. Hall. Mass Communication and Society, 3(1), 117–135.

Rogers, E. M. (2002). Funding international communication research. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30(4), 341–349.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.

Rogers, E. M. (2008). The fourteenth paw: Growing up on an Iowa farm in the 1930s. Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication Center.

Rogers, E. M., & Bhowmik, D. K. (1970/1971). Homophily–heterophily: Relational concepts for communication research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34(4), 523–538.

Rogers, E. M., & Hart, W. B. (2002). The histories of intercultural, international, and development communication. In W. B. Gudykunst & B. Mody (Eds.), Handbook of international and intercultural communication (2nd ed., pp. 1–18). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rogers, E. M., Hart, W. B., & Miike, Y. (2002). Edward T. Hall and the history of intercultural communication: The United States and Japan. Keio Communication Review, 24, 3–26.

Rogers, E. M., & Steinfatt, T. M. (1999). Intercultural communication. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Shukla, P. (2006). Improving the health of the discipline through mentoring: A celebration of Everett M. Rogers’ legacy. Journal of Creative Communication, 1(1), 123–129.

Singhal, A. (2012). Everett M. Rogers, an intercultural life: From Iowa farm boy to global intellectual. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(6), 848–856.

Singhal, A., & Dearing, J. W. (Eds.). (2006). Communication of innovations: A journey with Ev Rogers. New Delhi, India: Sage.