I am very sorry to hear the news about Bob's passing away. He was an energetic, mostly optimistic and enthusiastic, promoter of global social policy, a founding, entrepreneurial editor of the journal of that name, and a great source of inspiration for studies of the role of international organizations for social policy development, of comparative studies of welfare and social policy, and studies of social justice. He did pioneering studies of social policy development in the post-communist Central and East European countries. We met at many conferences (and airports!), and I remember the many meetings with critical discussions paired with good humour. He helped develop international networks of social policy researchers. It was great to have him (and Paul Stubbs) give a lively seminar at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin some years ago when I taught comparative social policy and welfare reform there. Thank you, Bob. You will be missed.
Stein Kuhnle
Professor of Comparative Politics
University of Bergen, Norway;
Professor Emeritus of Comparative Social Policy,
Hertie School of Governance, Berlion, Germany