Peter Pitsiladis (1933-2015)
“He was a good man, with a kind and welcoming heart,” says management professor Muhammad Jamal of his former colleague Peter Pitsiladis (Bcomm, 58), who died on September 7, 2015.
A graduate of Sir George Williams University, Pitsiladis spent 32 years as a faculty member at Concordia, serving as director of its MBA program and associate dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration (now the John Molson School of Business).
Pitsiladis was born in Montreal in 1933. After working briefly for Pratt & Whitney and Molson Canada, he earned a Bachelor of Commerce at Sir George, an MBA at the University of Western Ontario and a PhD in Business Administration at the University of Washington before launching his career in academia.
Frederick Francis, program coordinator with the Institute for Co-operative Education, met Pitsiladis when he was a graduate program assistant and Pitsiladis was director of the MBA program. “Working with Pitsiladis was certainly one of the outstanding highlights in my life at Concordia,” he says.
“His commitment to his students, teaching and research were all worthy of note. He was a great motivator, and the MBA team was inspired by his leadership, and most importantly his friendship.”
Pitsiladis helped welcome Christopher Ross, currently a professor in the Department of Marketing, when he first arrived at Concordia. “As a fellow case teacher, when I joined Concordia I used his case analysis marking scheme as my initial model,” Ross remembers. “This model helped me a great deal in my first years and I still have a copy of it.”
Management professor and former JMSB dean, Steven Appelbaum also worked closely with Pitsiladis. “I always enjoyed his work ethic and the zest with which he attacked problems confronting the faculty,” he says. “He will be missed by those of us who appreciated his humour and motivation.”
Outside of the university, Pitsiladis worked as a consultant for numerous businesses and organizations, including the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism for the Government of Canada. He also served as a commissioner of the Lakeshore School Board (now the Lester B. Pearson School Board) for many years.
He was an avid traveller and had a passion for music, theatre, film, museums, history and science.
Pitsiladis is survived by his daughters Marina and Andrea and by many other family and friends.
Read more about the life of Peter Pitsiladis.