Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Yongheng Deng, Gary Painter, and Christian Redfearn on the Life of John Quigley

Yongheng, Gary and Chris write a lovely tribute for AREUEA:

Monday, May 14, the community of AREUEA was deeply saddened to learn that John Quigley passed away on Saturday, May 12, 2012.

Since our early years at Berkeley, John has been a wonderful mentor and friend to us. John has been a member of 84 PhD committees since 1990, chairing 26 of them (including the three of us). He was a distinguished academic, a mentor for his students throughout their entire career. He excelled in each of the areas we value: research, teaching, and service. He published 22 articles in just the past three years alone, and his work has earned more than 10,000 citations. His service to the profession is unparalleled.

Within AREUEA, John served in many capacities including President and most recently as the chair of the International Selection Committee. He served as the chair of the Department of Economics at UC Berkeley, the editor of Regional Science and Urban Economics, and as a role model to many. Beyond these which can be counted, John's mix of conviction, energy, and laughter made him a singular character in our worlds. We will remain ever grateful for his guidance and advice, but beyond all of it, we also just liked him. He was good company--on a panel just as he was on the train from Shanghai to Beijing. John made life fun. He not only helped us join a profession, but helped us become part of a community. Simply put, we would not be the academics that we are today, if it not for him. We feel so fortunate that we have had him as a teacher, mentor, friend and collaborator.


We will always cherish the memory of John in our heart as a great scholar, a wonderful human being, a man of great intelligence, kindness, dedication, generosity, and profound integrity. We will forever miss him and miss him dearly.


Yongheng Deng (NUS), Gary Painter (USC), and Chris Redfearn (USC)

AREUEA Officers and Board Members