Keith Murninghan, professor at the department of Organization & Behavior at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University lost his fight against cancer last Friday. While increasing vertical specialization of PhD programs leads us typically not to know most professors of other departments (while physically close there are academically enormous distances), I was lucky enough to meet Keith several times during my executive MBA teaching stints at the Evanston and Miami campuses of Kellogg. Certainly not being an expert in his research field, I am, however, aware that Keith has been a major contributor to the literature of conflict resolution, in particular opposing group and individual behavior.

More importantly though, from my subjective perspective, he was a special person treating every MBA and PhD student with the utmost respect, always showing genuine interest in one’s work. I had the opportunity to get to know him a little during social events at executive MBA teaching weekends. Not only did he possess an extraordinary interdisciplinary interested mind, but he was also one of the kindest persons I have met during my time at Kellogg. Thus it did not come as a surprise to me that I met him at multiple private graduation events of Kellogg students.

RIP!

Here you can find the official Kellogg notification.