Chestnut Hill College professor jumps to his death

(Updated: 8/5/11 12:20 p.m. – A Chestnut Hill College spokeswoman says the Daily News report had some inaccuracies. The college says the event happened before class started. I have changed the headline to reflect this and underlined the portion where the college disputes the DN account. The college does confirm that Rudolf Alexandrov commited suicide by jumping from a higher floor inside St. Joseph Hall)

Chestnut Hill College professor Rudolf Alexandrov, 71, jumped to his death on Wednesday.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports Alexandrov was teaching a class in St. Joseph Hall when he became agitated during a class and left the room. He briefly returned to the class and yelled some words and again exited the room. The Daily News reports Alexandrov then went to a railing on the second floor and dove head first into the marble floor 20-30 feet below.

In a statement released Wednesday, College President Carol Jean Vale said, “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.”

Alexandrov was a math instructor at the college who earlier this year was listed as teaching a course on Developmental Math.