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3 Jeanne Kissner 1942-1999 This issue of Quebec Studies is dedicated to Jeanne Kissner who passed away unexpectedly on February 19,1999. Jeanne was born in New Haven, Connecticut and educated at Albertus Magnus College (B.A.), Trinity College (M.A.), and the University of Connecticut (Ph.D.). In the late 1970s, she joined the faculty at Plattsburgh State University, working at the Center for the Study of Canada. By the early 1980s she had become Associate Director of the Center. In 1997, she took on the additional role of Director of International Projects. She was responsible for a variety of creative programs and activities for students, professors, government officials, and business leaders including the Quebec Summer Seminar, the French Canadian Institute for Language and Culture, the Quebec Winter Symposium. Jeanne served in leadership roles in a number of international organizations. She was President of the American Council for Quebec Studies 1988-90; an ACSUS councilor 1990-93; on the executive board of AATF for four years; cochair of the National Consortium for Teaching Canada 1992-96; a founding board member of the Association internationale d'études québécoises in 1997. During her career, she furthered understanding of and interest in Quebec culture through various articles and presentations in Europe and North America. Louise Beaudoin, Quebec Minister for International Affairs, paid tribute to Jeanne's enormous contribution by saying, "Par sa curiosité, sa conscience professionnelle, son sens de l'amitié, elle a contribué plus que quiconque à étendre la compréhension du Québec." She is survived by her husband Fritz Kissner of Plattsburgh, NY; her son and daughter-in-law, Erik and Debra Kissner of San Marcos, CA; her daughter and son-in-law, Lara and Bryan Wilson, and their children Elisielle and Verreth of Belmont, MA. A Tribute to Jeanne Kissner The recent death of Jeanne Kissner has suddenly deprived the international community of Canadian and Quebec Studies of a shining light and a moving force. Working with Richard Beach for over twenty years, Jeanne had helped to make the Center for the Study of Canada at SUNY Plattsburgh a major player in the field. Many members of ACQS are alumni of the Quebec Summer Seminar or have participated in the Quebec Winter Symposium and remember how much Jeanne contributed to the success of the Center's various programs and activities. Jeanne's many accomplishments earned her the Prix du Québec in 1994 and the Dormer Medal in 1995. Our purpose here is not to list and praise Jeanne's professional activities. We want to remember her spirit and keep alive the bonds of friendship that have united us for many years—since the early days of ACQS, of which Jeanne was a founding mother. Knowing Jeanne meant more than having a merely professional relationship. Over the past twenty years we have supported each other through traumas that were professional, like job searches and tenure, and ones that were deeply personal, involving husbands, children, aging parents, and, more recently, physical health. We have celebrated each other's triumphs and Québec Studies, Volume 27, Spring/Summer 1999