Professor Ends Class…and Life

Philadelphia—Bewildered students, faculty members and even the man’s wife watched in utter horror last Wednesday as an adjunct teacher at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania committed suicide during his math class.

Rudolf Alexandrov, age 71, walked out of the classroom inside St. Joseph’s Hall, to the second-floor railing overlooking the college’s primary quad. Agitated and overcome with grief, Alexndrov dove head-first over the railing, falling roughly 30 feet to his death. 

Alexandrov’s 56-year-old wife, a fellow adjunct professor at the Hill College witnessed the incident from a nearby classroom. 

In response to the tragedy, the school issued the following statement:

“President Carol Vale and the entire Chestnut Hill College community wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family of adjunct professor Rudolf Alexandrov who died in a fall at the College on August 3. We offer our prayers and condolences to all Alexandrov family members and friends at this of great sorry.”

Investigators and college officials say the professor had a history of depression and had been expressing suicidal thoughts. The school is currently offering counseling to those who witnessed the incident. Classes resumed on Thursday.