In Memoriam: Professor Jan M. Hoem

Abstract

Jan Hoem died on Saturday in Stockholm after a long illness. Jan became Director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in 1999; he and I jointly led the Institute for almost eight years. During this period he served as Editor of Demographic Research; he took on this responsibility shortly after the journal was launched and built the journal into a respected online source of cutting-edge analysis. Jan was a superb colleague, with very good judgment, a delightful sense of humor, and deep devotion to research quality. A pioneer of event history analysis, he understood the subtleties of the subject better than anyone else. Jan was born and educated in Norway and worked in Oslo before becoming Professor in Copenhagen and then Professor in Stockholm, where he established SUDA, a leading demographic research initiative. His dedication to high-quality, statistically sophisticated population research at SUDA and MPIDR as well as in the journal Demographic Research substantially advanced the discipline of demography. Jan was a warm and generous teacher, a loyal colleague, and a caring friend whom many people will long remember with gratitude and respect. James W. Vaupel Publisher, Demographic Research