It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the death of our colleague and friend, Dr. Garnet Grosjean, who passed away on Friday, January 31, 2025, as a result of a sudden-onset medical issue. His longtime partner, Jan Atkinson-Grosjean, and members of his family were with him at his bedside at the time of his passing.
With passion, skill, and gracious humour, Garnet wore a few hats during his years in EDST. He was a Lecturer for 20 years. In 2001, he was hired as Academic Coordinator of the EdD in Educational Leadership and Policy. In 2004, he was hired as UBC Coordinator of the MEd in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) program. He served in both roles until his retirement in 2021. He also served as the International Coordinator of the ALGC program from 2009 until 2020. Garnet brought energy and vision to both the EdD and ALGC programs over the years. In 2015, his work in the ALGC program was recognized with an E-Learning Excellence Award for Large Scale Global Network Initiative at the 14th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2015) in Hatfield, UK.
Garnet was an avid photographer and made many trips to Kenya, among other places, to photograph the “big cats” of Africa. The photo monograph of African wildlife he compiled in 2023 stands as a tribute to his photographic skills and perceptive eye.
The Department of Educational Studies invites people to provide biographical details and memories of Garnet that we can work up into a fuller obituary. Please email materials you wish to share to the EDST Assistant to the Head, Genoveva (Geno) Mendoza Quirós at gmendo03@mail.ubc.ca, ideally by March 1, 2025. Eventually, we hope to post this obituary, along with some photos, on the In Memoriam page within the EDST website.
Informal discussions are already underway about ways to acknowledge and celebrate Garnet’s multi-faceted legacy in relation to EDST.
There will be no funeral, but a celebration of life will be organized in the spring by Garnet’s family.