Kent Monroe passed away on February 23rd, 2025.

Kent earned a doctorate in business administration in 1968 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and returned to join the Illinois faculty in 1991. He led the Marketing group for many years as the John M. Jones Distinguished Professor of Marketing and was Head of the Department of Business Administration from 1994 to 1999. He retired from Illinois in 2005.

Kent epitomized the rare breed of academician who made pioneering contributions across every sphere of academic endeavor – research, teaching, mentoring, university administration, and discipline-level service. Kent pioneered the modern paradigm of behavioral pricing research.  His observation in the late 1960’s that price perceptions follow a logarithmic pattern set the stage for research in pricing for decades to come.  Kent’s work broke new ground through several highly creative and influential lines of research on reference prices, adaptation levels, price-quality-value associations, and price thresholds. The “Dean of Pricing” was steadfast in his goal to create knowledge on one of the 4Ps of Marketing and advance the field.

His impact endures through the large number of doctoral dissertations he chaired over the years, an estimated 36 in total, including award-winning doctoral work.  Kent’s mentoring extended beyond students to development of junior faculty as they embarked on their professional journey.  Developing individuals to reach their potential was Kent’s unrelenting focus. His mentoring relationships in the field of marketing extended to universities around the globe.

Kent’s leadership in the area of pricing is reflected in the scope and quantity of courses he taught at every level, establishing a global presence as a world-renowned pricing expert.  His book, Making Profitable Decisions (first published in 1979, with the 3rd edition published in 2003) has been translated into several languages. Kent also contributed significantly to the marketing profession through important and varied service including editor of the Journal of Consumer Research from 1990-1993 and leadership positions in multiple academic organizations. His public service extended from the FTC to local youth soccer teams and churches.

How Kent went about these extraordinary accomplishments is just as important. Among the innumerable strengths he possessed was his thoroughness and attention to detail – famous for his red-inked markup of manuscripts and careful screening of writing for typographic and other errors. Always thoughtful in his scholarship and interactions, Kent’s legacy endures because of his pioneering contributions but also because he inspired so many. Indeed, Kent was an extraordinary scholar and human being who showed that, for him, these two dimensions are inseparable.

If there is one word to describe Kent, that would be giving.  He gave so much of himself at every conceivable level of academic endeavor.  He leaves an indelible mark on every facet of scholarly endeavor; in fact, he really leaves part of himself.  Kent’s work was of highest quality, learning from him was of immense value, and how he conducted himself with dignity and decency through all his accomplishments was priceless.

We bid goodbye to an intellectual giant, a very kind and compassionate human being. We will always miss him, but his presence is always with us.

His Beloved Students and Colleagues
Marketing Group and Department of Business Administration
Gies College of Business
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign