Guest editorial: A eulogy for Professor Bryan MacGregor

Everybody leaves their mark on this world. Everybody is missed when they pass. But only a few of us leave a gaping hole in the lives of everyone with whom we shared our time on this planet. Professor Bryan MacGregor has left such a hole.Last September, Professor Bryan MacGregor of the University of Aberdeen (retired) died at the much too young age of 71. Bryan has left that hole in the lives of his family, his friends, his academic colleagues, his students, his professional colleagues and everyone who knew him. Bryan was a leading academic in our field and a wonderful friend. He was a long-standing member of our editorial board for the Journal of Property Investment & Finance (JPIF) as well as being the editor of the Journal of Property Research (JPR). Bryan and I worked well together in these roles. We both reviewed papers on each respective journal, but we also shared information about submissions, particularly more recently as more submissions were made to different journals at the same time. This was something that vexed him as an ethical and respectful approach to publications was central to his view of academia. Indeed, my last conversation with him on this topic was a “grumpy old men” discussion of the lack of rigor and professionalism in the papers submitted today.And that was central to his role as an academic. Bryan contributed fully to our academic discipline and we will miss his insights and research rigor on all aspects of property, planning and investment. This is a shared view of all who knew him, as witnessed by these short eulogies from just two of his close friends and colleagues:And ……And I could have included numerous other eulogies as we all wanted to honour Bryan's memory in any way that we could. We have had his funeral in Aberdeen, a memorial lunch in London, this memorial issue of JPIF and a forthcoming special issue of JPR, but to be honest, all of it feels as though too little. There are not enough words to express our sadness; there are not enough acclamations to praise his contribution to the academic real estate community; there are not enough tears to do justice to our grief and, most importantly, there are not enough distractions to fill that gaping hole that his passing has left in our lives.Bryan, in this special issue, your friends and colleagues have written insightful papers to honour your contribution to our discipline. One includes work that you were writing before you died, some touch upon the work that you did during your career and a few are topics and insights where you shared a common interest, but all are written with the rigor and professionalism that echoed throughout your life. We hope that this is a fitting memorial.From a personal point of view, my life is emptier without his sardonic wit, his insights, his eloquence and his friendship.