Dear Friends, Dear Colleagues,
With deep sadness and grief, we want to let you know that Pierre Eiglier unexpectedly passed away on Saturday, February 22nd. The following lines are inspired by the warm words we received from his old and new friends, and by our memories.
Pierre, along with Eric Langeard, was a pioneer in seeding and nurturing the emergence of services as a distinct academic discipline in the late Seventies. And, for over three decades, he continued to foster the growth of the discipline in multiple ways, most notably through the series of La Londe conferences that have brought many scholars from around the world together for deep intellectual discussions about service and for strengthening our service research community.
Those who have met him personally have come to appreciate the person he was. His easy style masked a brilliant and creative mind that was always able to combine theoretical rigor and managerial relevance.
We, as his former Ph.D. students, remember the stimulating teacher and mentor he was. As colleagues, we remember the way he challenged our minds and our ideas. As his friends, we remember and deeply miss his love and generosity.
We will remember Pierre at the upcoming La Londe conference in June 2020. We will all tell Pierre stories, dance, and drink, because that would be what he would have wanted.
Such a wise and gentle giant we have lost.
Chiara Orsingher, Sylvie Llosa, Kiane Goudarzi
(David Bowen, Bart Larivière, Irene Ng, Parsu Parasuraman, and Ben Schneider : thank you for inspiring these words)
A tribute to:
Personality: Pierre, you are an authentic, charismatic person
Impact: who made a difference to us and many others
Enthusiasm: with a lot of enthusiasm, energy and engagement
Role model: you were, are and will remain a role model for us
Respect: we respect you for being a visionary service scholar and pioneer, a mentor, a conference organiser, a friend
Endless: endless love: we love you Pierre, you conquered a special place in our hearts; we will miss you but we will cherish the many beautiful memories
Bart Larivière
Pierre and Eric were the pionneers of services marketing movement in France and Europe. They inspire so many students by the quality of their teaching and their creative mindset. Respect..
Gerard