One of the victims in the accident involving a stretch limousine that crashed last weekend in Schoharie, west of Albany, has ties to the University of Rochester.
Brian Hough was one of the two pedestrians killed in that accident that killed a total of 20 people. The other 18 were in a rented stretch limousine that crashed into another vehicle and an embankment.
The 46 year old Hough most recently was an assistant professor of Geology at SUNY Oswego. He received his doctoral degree at the University of Rochester in 2010.
His advisor for the PhD degree was Professor Carmala Garzione who still teaches at UR.
She says that she and many of the researchers at U-R who knew Brian are just stunned about what happened.
“Brian came back to school a little bit later in life because he worked after getting his Master’s. He was a wonderful person, he just had a passion for geology, really enjoyed getting out to do field work, doing lab work and discovering. He was also passionate about teaching and was a wonderful teacher,” Garzione told WXXI News.
She says other researchers at the university are also trying to process the news about his death.
“I notified them as soon as I learned and there’s just been an outpouring of sorrow and disbelief over the loss of his life; my colleagues have also expressed, my other faculty here have also expressed the same sentiments, we’re all just stunned that he’s not with us anymore.”
University of Rochester President Richard Feldman issued this statement:
“On behalf of the University of Rochester community, I want to extend deepest condolences to the family and friends of Brian Hough ‘11(PhD). We are keeping all of the victims of this tragedy in our thoughts, and especially mourn Brian as a member of our University family who earned his PhD from our Department of Geological Sciences.”
SUNY Oswego released a statement which said that the campus is “deeply saddened by the death of Brian Hough.” The college says it was able to confirm, after receiving positive identification from the State Police, that Hough was one of the pedestrians killed in the Schoharie crash.
“In a short time, Brian became a major part of our campus family,” said SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley. “He was a dedicated faculty member who inspired his students to learn and understand at a deep level, and whose contributions were often sought by his colleagues. He will be missed and remembered fondly by all, always.”
The New York Post is reporting that Brian Hough and his father-in-law were in the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store when they were fatally struck by the limo.
