The distinguished lady Carol Stanton conveyed to us the sad news of the passing of her husband, the world-renowned Professor John L. Stanton (https://www.sju.edu/news/memoriam-john-l-stanton-phd-1945-2025 ; https://www.supermarketnews.com/company-news/in-remembrance-dr-john-stanton-1945-2025-a-pillar-of-food-marketing-excellence ; https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/world-renowned-st-joseph-s-university-food-marketing-professor-john-l-stanton-jr-dies-at-80/ar-AA1L7JWB ; https://www.foodprocessing.com/workforce/people-on-the-move/news/55310120/john-stanton-marketing-guru-and-our-former-columnist-dies-at-80 ; https://foodtradenews.com/2025/08/18/longtime-sju-professor-john-l-stanton-phd-has-died/ ; https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/john-stanton-obituary-philadelphia-new-jersey-sewell-food-marketing-20250820.html). An Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee (2011), Professor John L. Stanton was the Chair of the Department of Food Marketing at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, USA, and Honored Personality 2016 of the European Retail Academy (included in the ERA Hall of Fame; other distinguished personalities who have been honored priorly by ERA were: Philip Alexander Nobel, Léon F. Wegnez, Romano Prodi, Klaus Toepfer, Robert Aumann). Professor John L. Stanton was also an inductee of the Hall of Fame of the Private Label Manufacturers Association (USA), and he was awarded Lifetimes Achievement Award, Promotion Optimization Award. He has been regularly quoted in the news media including CNN, the Today Show and NBC Nightly News and has been quoted in Forbes, Fortune, Advertising Age, Brand Week, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many others.  He hosted an episode of the History Channel’s Modern Marvels entitled “The History of the Supermarket.” He also served as an expert and expert witness to many food and beverage companies including Whole Foods, Target, Coca Cola, Ahold, Supervalu, Boars Head, Safeway and many others. He published many books (such as: “Winning Marketing Strategy”, “Precision Target Marketing”, “Stanton on Food Marketing”, “MORE Stanton on Food Marketing”, “Success Leaves Clues!”, “Delight Me… The Ten Commandments of Customer Service”, “21 Trends in Food Marketing for the 21st Century”, “325 Ways to Make Customers Feel Like Your Supermarket Is Their Supermarket”, “Marketing Planning in a Total Quality Environment”, “Running a Supermarket Consumer Focus Groups”). For instance, his niche book “Making Niche Marketing Work” (McGraw-Hill) was selected for the Business Week Book Club, and has been published in German, Portuguese, Thai, Hebrew, and Korean. He was founding editor and Editor-in-Chief of the „Journal of Food Products Marketing”, Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of International Food and Agribusiness”, and an editorial advisor of the British Food Journal.

Ten years ago, on August 1, 2015, starting from the words of Marcel Proust – who brought to our attention that: “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom” – we highlighted that “Professor John L. Stanton is that kind of person, constantly advocating for virtues-led management, and promoting the universal values. Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee (2011), Professor John L. Stanton is a well-known food marketing practitioner.”

Professor John L. Stanton first came to Romania in May 2011 as a Visiting Professor at the Romanian-American University (RAU). At the end of the “Strategic Marketing” course delivered by Professor Stanton to the RAU students, the Romanian American University has awarded Professor John L. Stanton the Diploma of “Special Academic Merit”. Professor John L. Stanton also made his first visit to Brasov, where he was particularly interested in the first Romanian School (attested in 1495; the current building, a historical monument, being according to the anniversary plaque from 1760) Museum. Our host here was Father Professor Vasile Oltean (the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Schei Brasov), and visit organizer being our colleague Dr. Nicolae Albu, Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee board. On that occasion, the Tomb (located in the Saint Nicholas Churchyard) of Nicolae Titulescu, President of the General Assembly of the League of Nations (1930-1932), was also visited.

Professor John L. Stanton returned to Romania in October 2011, on the occasion of the SANABUNA International Congress, Brasov (https://www.crd-aida.ro/activitiespartnership/sanabuna-2011/). It is worth remembering that the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila” in Bucharest awarded Professor John L. Stanton a Diploma of Excellence in May 2011.

Professor John L. Stanton’s last visit to Europe took place in October 2022, when he accepted his old friend’s invitation, Professor Costel Negricea, Rector of the Romanian-American University (RAU), Member of the Board and Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee. RAU Rector Professor Costel Negricea has awarded the distinguished RAU Visiting Professor John L. Stanton a “Certificate of Excellence in Education and Research for state-of-the-art accomplishments in the field of Marketing.” And as the good conversation stimulates minds, the friendly reconnection gave actionable insight into the challenging Marketing future, including core marketing functions’ transformation under the influence of disruptive technologies, without neglecting the role of empathy in authentically understand and connect with people’s feelings, evolving needs, and improved experiences.

Professor John L. Stanton was permanently focused on strategic issues, communicating the best strategic thinking to marketing managers in order to help them in keeping pace with the rapidly changing field which requires continuous learning, hard work, and dedication, fostering a values-based culture and resilience in the face of challenges. His lifetime commitment to teaching excellence and providing managerial consultancies (setting the right marketing management goals, and developing multiple perspectives on the food business activities) has been widely recognized including in Romania.

In the above-mentioned stream of thoughts expressed in the context of announcing the passing of the world-renowned Professor John L. Stanton, it was also emphasized that he inspired many people, as a scholar and educator who formed not only careers, but also the specialized area within the broader marketing field itself (from better consumer understanding, product and packaging etc. to more complex supply chains, and better meeting consumer evolving needs, influencing food choices, and building brand loyalty), and his legacy will endure. As for the kindness he showed to people in his immediate surroundings, this urges us to do good deeds in memory of our Great Friend. Thank you, John, for your kindness, friendship, and forward-looking perspective, for the memories you create along the way and held within the heart and mind. Rest in peace, dear John!