Our dear friend Jean-Claude Ziv, 63, died May 27 after a courageous battle with cancer.
Jean-Claude was extremely well-educated and had many accomplishments during his career as an educator, consultant and researcher. He served, amongst other roles, as:
• Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, chair professor of transport logistics
• CODATU (Cooperation for urban mobility in the developing world), secretary general
• Director of l'Institut des Transports Internationaux (ITIP)
• Consultant and director of "Les Voyages du Pont du Gard"
• President of the “Syndicat Intercommunal pour l'Emploi du Canton de Remoulins (Gard)”
• Advisor to the dean of the Cornell University College of Architecture
• Member of the American Public Transportation Association
• Member of the Transportation Research Board
Jean-Claude received an engineering degree from Ecole Centrale de Paris. He had a doctorate in urbanism from the University of Paris and a Ph.D in city and regional planning from Cornell University.
Jean-Claude, who was completely bilingual in French and English, reveled in bridging these two cultures in particular, and in bringing together transportation specialists from many cultures more generally. Shuttling between scholarship, teaching, and practice, he was one of the world's most sophisticated, broad-gauge specialists in transportation, logistics and tourism. He used to say that “it is easy to be a professional in this mix of fields since it feels to me like being on vacation.”
Jean-Claude was always on the move. “Whenever I got together with him, he was always en route to somewhere”, says David Kessler, his close colleague and fellow Cornellian. “Always travelling. He is unforgettable. Meals with Jean-Claude were always very special. He knew his food and, of course, his wines. In New York City, one of his favorite places was Capsouto Freres in Tribeca, where we sometimes went for celebration. He was a proud member of the Cornell Club of NYC.”
He was also a dear, dear friend to so many of us in the transportation and travel fields from throughout the world. Jean-Claude was one of the most generous persons some of us had the honor and the pleasure of knowing. He was full of life, always available and willingly shared his knowledge and expertise with all of us.
"He was truly an inspiration to all who knew him or worked with him. I cannot thank him enough for being who he was," says Astrid Stumpf, who worked alongside him on many projects.
Alan Altshuler recalls “Jean-Claude was such a courageous, infectiously upbeat, vibrantly alive person that I can scarcely believe he is gone. I shall always remember him laughing, planning, juggling phone calls and appointments like a circus acrobat, enthusiastically arranging for me to meet someone new, sharing the latest bits of family as well as professional news, erupting ideas like an intellectual volcano. I shall miss him more than words can express.”
Your family, innumerable friends, colleagues and students across the world will miss you so very much, Jean-Claude. We wish you the best in your future travels and hope that you will always have your cell phone at your side.
Nous t’embrassons très fort. Merci pour tout. A bientôt, l’Ami.
