Tjeerd Plomp passed away on 17 September at the age of 83. As Chair of the Organizing Committee of the first ECER in 1992, Tjeerd Plomp is one of the founding fathers of the European Conferences on Educational Research and the European Educational Research Association. Tjeerd Plomp steered Network 9 for over a decade, both as Link Convenor and Co-convenor, later becoming an honorary member.
As an honorary IEA member, Tjeerd was a great friend to IEA and a valued collaborator and mentor for our international research network. He participated in the leadership of IEA for a decade, between 1989 and 1999, as Chair of IEA. Further, he played an invaluable role as Chair of the Steering Committee for several IEA studies (including TIMSS 1995, SITES-M1, and SITES-M2), and director of the IEA Computers in Education Study and the Second Information Technology in Education Study 2006. As a highly respected and influential figure within IEA, Tjeerd also contributed to countless IEA-related publications.
Tjeerd leaves behind his wife Emmy, three children and six grandchildren. Our thoughts are with them all at this difficult time. On the obituary notice, the family chose the following quotation by Tjeerd during recent challenging times of his illness: "Ik kijk niet naar de dingen die niet meer kunnen, maar ik geniet van wat ik nog wel kan.", which translates roughly into English as, “I don’t look at the things I cannot do anymore, but rather I enjoy that which I can still do”.
IEA Executive Director, Dr Dirk Hastedt:
On behalf of IEA, I would like to extend my deepest condolences for Tjeerd's passing. He was an invaluable and highly respected member of our organization, and his efforts were a big part of making IEA the successful entity that it is today. He will be remembered for his exceptional contributions to education, that also went far beyond his work with IEA, and also resulted in multiple honorary doctorates and being knighted for his services to education by the Netherlands.
As IEA Chair, Tjeerd enjoyed working collaboratively with all IEA members and partners, and he always placed a high emphasis on ensuring everyone's voice was heard. He will be remembered for his unfaltering work ethic, his humanity and compassion.
My heartfelt sympathies to Tjeerd's family, friends and colleagues. May he rest in peace.