Sheldon Fellow Touring Asia Killed in Fall

Andy M. Brown '79 died Wednesday of injuries suffered in a fall from a cliff while touring Sri Lanka on a Sheldon Fellowship. He was 22 years old.

Brown was gathering herbs with several other students when he fell from the cliff and apparently struck a metal object that punctured his abdomen. He survived an operation, but developed a blood clot and died suddenly.

A Magna Cum Laude graduate in Chemistry, Brown had planned to spend a year in Asia learning about herbs and Eastern medicine before attending medical school.

Led the Way

Peter Slavin '79, Brown's roommate for four years, said yesterday, "The way he died was indicative of the way he lived. He was always the first to try some new experience."

"He was an incredibly sensitive, caring guy with the gentlest smile and a great sense of humor," David Moscowitz, a close friend to Brown and his pre-med adviser, said yesterday.

Adaptable

In addition to spending several summers working in medical labs, Brown worked in a factory in Italy and dug ditches for a gas company in France. "He had this amazing courage about going into new situations and getting to meet people," Moskowitz said. "He would spend the day talking and working with the people he met in the ditches, then have dinner with the owners; he could adapt like that," Moskowitz added.

Understanding

"He was totally into experiences and understanding. He always attempted to understand," Doug Ames '80 said yesterday.

John S. Bruce '79-4 described Brown as "one of the only pre-meds I've ever known who had the sensitivity to recognize the social implications of what he was doing. He was really dedicated to his career objective and yet able to separate himself from it. His interest was in people."

Because Brown was hurt in a remote area where planes do not land, authorities have had difficulty transporting his body back to the United States. Government officials are planning to send an army plane for the body.