On 17th January (2018) the colleagues and friends of the late Dr. Christina Scandelius met in the University’s Chaplaincy Centre for a service of remembrance for her life and academic accomplishments.
Dr Scandelius was a lecturer-in-marketing and was a member of the marketing and corporate brand research group: she was also a former PhD scholarship holder within the business school. She died on 6th May 2016 after a long-fight with cancer. Dr Scandelius was a popular and widely-respected colleague and teacher and had many friends in the marketing and corporate brand research group, business school and beyond.
Organised by Dr Geraldine Cohen (Dr Scandelius’s erstwhile PhD supervisor), and led by The Reverend Sally Hitchner (Anglican Chaplain to the University), the service was attended by the Dean (Professor Tom Betteridge), Associate Deans, faculty members and students.
In addition to prayers for Dr Scandelius’s family and friends, the liturgy drew on several traditions and included a reading of a Psalm from the Hebrew Bible (Dr Cohen), music from the Latin Requiem Mass (“In Paradisum” by Faure), and the Santa Lucia Neapolitan carol so beloved by Christina and by Swedes the world-over (In both Sweden as in Naples St. Lucy’s day is a major festival).
Reflections on Dr Scandelius’s life and academic achievements were given by Professor Tom Betteridge and Dr Sharifah Alwi and Dr Dorothy Yen read from the acknowledgements page of Dr Scandelius’s PhD thesis.
In his Panegyric, Professor John M.T. Balmer (Director of the Marketing and Corporate Brand Group) reflected:
“Dr Christina Scandelius through her vocation as a teacher and scholar illumed the lives of faculty and students at Brunel. Furthermore, through her published output, Christina provided light to the world-wide community of marketing scholars and to the practice of marketing. In all that she did, she was an embodiment of our University’s corporate brand covenant, a brand promise which is informed by the precept of useful learning. Finally, I know that her candle will burn brightly in our hearts for many years to come”.