University of Peshawar was established on 30th October, 1950. The Department of Psychology came into existence in 1964.
Professor Dr. Shahabuddin Muhammad Moghni, laid the foundations of Psychology Department as its first Professor and Chairman. Although Psychology was introduced for the first time in N-WFP, yet the number of students enrolled was quite large. There were 25 students in all, (13 boys and 12 girls).
Prof. Dr. S. M.Moghni was the sole person who had to look after
administration as well as teaching and research There was no separate building.
In fact there was only one class room vacated by the Department of Geology on the ground floor. Another room on first floor was given by the Department of Geography, which served as a lecture room. Neither a Seminar library was available, nor a laboratory, both of which were of utmost importance for graduate students of Psychology. Above all, the text books were not available in the market. The students could manage to purchase only a few books during the first academic session (1964-65) and some were supplied by the Department. The first person to join Professor Moghni in this endeavor was
Professor Dr. Zafar Afaq Ansari (remained Director NIP, and Chairman, Department
of Psychology, IIU, Malaysia; now in California, USA). He joined this Department as a Lecturer in December 1964. The syllabi approved for the Previous Year class consisted of three theory papers (History of Psychology; Abnormal Psychology; Social Psychology) and Laboratory work. Dr. Moghni was teaching History of Psychology Including Introductory & Experimental Psychology whereas Dr. Ansari was teaching Abnormal Psychology as well as supervising the Laboratory work (including a basic course in Statistics). Teaching load was greatly increased when the previous year students were promoted to the final class. The same faculty members had to teach three more theory papers (Experimental Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Testing and Measurement), and practicum. In January 1966,
Ptofessor Dr. Alay Ahmad joined the faculty as a Lecturer and shared the teaching responsibilities. In 1965-66, the Department was able to purchase some text books and laboratory equipment and began to hum with Experimental and Testing activities. Due to lack of space in the original building, the Department was shifted to Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce in late 1966. In 1968,
Professor Dr. Mah Nazir Riaz, one of the first graduates, joined the Department as a Lecturer. By 1969, the faculty expanded. It consisted of one Professor, four Lecturers, and one Demonstrator. But the sojourn in the Commerce College was too brief and its classes had to move to Youth Hostel (the building to the right of the department,
now IMS Junior section). A new building for this Department was considered a must by the University because its activities had greatly expanded.
The present building is the outcome of that great-felt need and was designed specially as Psychology Department.
The Department moved in here in 1972 and started expanding in terms of Faculty members, Seminar Library, Laboratory Equipment and
Psychological Tests etc. Professor Dr. Farhana Jahangir (now
VC, Frontier Women University) joined in 1979, Professor Dr. Maher Bano in 1980, Dr. Nasim Riaz Sahibzada in 1980 (now
a consultant psychologist in Maryland, DC), Dr. Rahat Sajjad in 1982,
Professor Dr. Zulfiqar Hussain Gilani in 1982 (also remained VC of our University,
now in Canada), Dr. Nighat Gillani in 1987 (later Associate Professor at NIP,
now in Canada),
Dr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan
in 1990,
Dr. Erum Irshad in 1996, Dr. Summiya Hayat Bangash in 2002, and Ms.
Roomana Zeb in 2008. In 1995 a Mass Communication Lab, was established by Dr. Alay Ahmad, and in 1997 a Computer section was
established by Dr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan during Dr. Mah Nazir's tenure in 1998. Prof. Dr. Shahabuddin Muhammad Moghni retired in 1986 and
passed away in 1988. Prof. Dr. Alay Ahmad retired in 1997 and is serving
in Preston University as Dean of Social Sciences now. Prof. Dr. Mah Nazir Riaz retired
in 2002 and now serving as Dean and Chair of Psychology in Frontier Women University
Peshawar. Dr. Rahat Sajjad retired in 2009. In 2010 the Department announced
Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology (PDCP)
and Opened two new setups viz., Psychology Clinic
and Assessment and Counseling Clinic.
Picture at the right shows Professor Dr. Shahabuddin Muhammad Moghni (Late)
