sans serif announces with regret the passing away of Brent Hurd, a Fulbright scholar and visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) in a road accident on the outskirts of Bangalore, on Sunday. He was 38 years old.
Prof Hurd, who was riding a bicycle back to the institute campus after a swim at a nearby club was knocked down by a local bus on the busy Bangalore-Mysore road. He was rushed to a hospital down the road, where he was pronounced dead.
The Delware-born Texan is survived by his parents, a brother, and two sisters.
A much-travelled film documentary maker, who had earlier worked at the American University in Washington DC and in Baku State University in Azerbaijan, Prof. Hurd had joined IIJNM in July 2008 to teach video journalism and documentary film making.
In a decade-long career in journalism starting as a writer at the Voice of America, Prof Hurd had reported from four continente. He was part of a team that won a CINE Golden Eagle award for the 1999 travelogue, “Surprising Bulgaria”, and his print articles and photography had been published in The New York Times, among other publications.
He had previously served as a peace corps volunteer in Bulgaria; a tour guide in Europe; and helped negotiate contracts for construction of the International Space Station.
“I have walked the streets of southern Thailand covering religious conflict, canvassed the Medina of Tunis assessing women’s rights and studied geysers to understand geothermal technology in Iceland,” Hurd had written on his website.
A memorial service was held at the IIJNM on Monday and his body will be flown to the United States.
Photograph: courtesy IIJNM
Visit Brent Hurd’s website: Border-free world
Also read: ToI headline on Hurd death irks Fulbright scholar
IJR 
I was a one of students of Brent Hurdin Baku State University. I am so shocked heard this tragedic news. We were waiting him in Baku. He wrote me that he would come back on 12 december. I was waiting him. The life is so strange. Why the best people die earlier. He was the friend and the best teacher of mine. I am so sad.
Thank you for the comment about my cousin, Brent Hurd. As you can imagine, he was quite special in our family and we adored him. He loved teaching so much, and it means so much to us to know that his students were fond of him.
What a loss. May his soul be at peace.
As Brent’s neighbor in Washington, DC, I mourn the world’s loss of this young man’s life.