while still serving as an editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology. In the three years that he had served as a member of our editorial team we had formed strong bonds with him, both professionally and socially. In his time as editor, Ken worked incredibly hard for the journal-mainly handling papers in those content areas where he had considerable expertise: discrimination, prejudice, group dynamics, gender and close relationships. Indeed, because his own work in these areas was so well-known and so highly respected it is clear that many papers were explicitly submitted to the journal in the hope that he would handle them.
In the wake of Ken's death it was immediately obvious from the many letters and e-mails we received that our sense of loss was shared with colleagues throughout the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology and beyond. Moreover, as a physical reminder of the work that Ken had done for the journal we were left with a large number of papers on which he was the action editor but also with a strong desire to create some lasting tribute to a colleague that we, and the journal's readership more generally, looked up to as a model academic and a cherished friend.
This special issue is the product of that physical reminder and our desire to honour Ken. In it, we have published the very best of those papers that he was in the process of handling at the time of his death. As fate would have it, these provide a very clear insight into the breadth of his expertise and of his influence. In particular, they reflect the distinct set of research interests that constitute Ken's academic signature and are authored by researchers at various stages of their careers across Europe, Australia, the United States and his own native Canada.
To read these papers, then, is to know something about the intellectual passions that inspired Ken as a scientist and a scholar. Know too, though, that these were not the passions of an intellectual isolate. Rather, they were those of an outstanding academic citizen who made our community richer. Through his commitment to shared ideals of scholarship and service he motivated and helped others to do their best.
The papers that follow are, at least in part, a manifestation of that commitment. For this reason they stand, we hope, as a fitting and lasting tribute to an exemplary scholar whose enthusiastic vision for our discipline we celebrate and count ourselves fortunate to have enjoyed.