Dr. Niwako Yamawaki is a professor in BYU’s psychology department who focuses on problems women face, such as sexism, gender stereotypes, and domestic abuse. Her research is often cross-cultural, reflecting her background as an immigrant to the United States. Dr. Yamawaki was born and raised in Japan, but moved to the United States to receive her education. She received her doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Utah and became a licensed psychologist in 2003.
Though Dr. Yamawaki often felt alone and unimportant when she first moved here to pursue her education, her story, which she shared in her May 2021 devotional, is a poignant and beautiful example of Christ’s loving awareness of individuals. She was originally introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at age 14, through a free English class. The class was taught by Elders, who soon began teaching Dr. Yamawaki. In her devotional, she mentioned one specific missionary whose sacrifices helped her eventually get on the gospel path. She shared, “Elder Arnett didn’t just talk about God’s love, he lived it. Moreover, not only did he teach me that there was a God, but also that that God loves me. This became the most important and fundamental core of my testimony and has helped me whenever I have experienced pain and suffering in my life.” [1] Her speech further explores her belief in God’s love, even when faced with the sight of horrifying circumstances.
Dr. Yamawaki expresses her knowledge of God’s love by loving the students that come into her classroom. She is known in the psychology department for being an entertaining, caring, and passionate teacher. She is has also contributed significant and important scholarship to the Brigham Young University community, so much so that she became the Martin B. Hickman Scholar Award recipient for the 2019-2020 school year. Additionally, Dr. Yamawaki “is a recipient of the Abe Fellowship (Social Science Research Council), the JSPS Post Doc Fellowship, the JSPS Invitation Fellowship (Long term), and the BRIDGE Fellowship.” [2]She is dedicated to continual service to the BYU community through her teaching, scholarship, and example. As she said in her devotional, “I know for sure that I can keep pushing forward on my journey because I know that God lives, and that God loves me.” [3]
