It is difficult to find the right words at this difficult time, being a tremendous loss for all those who knew Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, the “designer” of the European Retail Academy (ERA, www.european-retail-academy.org) – a virtual platform that brings more transparency about retail-research and retail-education and promotes the international transfer of know-how between business and universities – and President of EuCVoT (European Competence Center for Vocational Training for Retail).

Professor Bernd Hallier was the Managing Director of the EHI Retail Institute (former EuroHandelsinstitut ), Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop (world’s largest capital goods show in the retail sector), Member of the Board of AIDA Brussels, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club, Member of the Advisory Board of “Transparent Food”, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent (the largest German labelling organisation in the beef sector), and Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P (a private sector body setting voluntary standards for the certification of production processes of agricultural products around the globe, and serving as a practical manual for Good Agricultural Practice – G.A.P anywhere in the world).

Professor Bernd Hallier began many years ago a fruitful collaboration with the prestigious Professor Klaus Toepfer (former Federal German Minister for Environment, former director of the United Nations Environment Program UNEP and initiator of the Kyoto Protocol), and with Dr. Angela Merkel (former Chancellor of the Federal Republic, and who pushed “environment” to become a high political issue during the EU-Presidency of Germany, in 2007).

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier is an Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee, and distinguished Member of both the Editorial Board of “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”, and the Editorial Board of RAU “Holistic Marketing Management”. It is also worth remembering that immediately after visiting Romania for the first time on the occasion of the 24th International Congress of the International Association for the Distributive Trade (AIDA Brussels), Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier sent us, in May 1998, a memorable letter we have referred initially in the Journal of the Romanian Marketing Association (AROMAR), no. 5/1998, and also later, in 2010, in the first issue of the Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine. The Romanian-American University (RAU) has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Special Academic Merit”. The “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Excellence”. Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier was involved from the very beginning in the organization of SANABUNA International Congress.

May his memory be for a blessing.