A Northwestern professor fell to his death early Sunday morning at a Hollywood, Fla., hotel, according to police.
Piotr Kulesza, 46, fell shortly before 12:39 a.m. from the 23rd-floor balcony of the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa, said Lt. Osvaldo Perez, a spokesman for the Hollywood Police Department.
Perez said foul play is not suspected in Kulesza’s death, and police believe it was accidental.
Kulesza was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Broward County medical examiner’s office. His cause and manner of death are pending further investigation and medical testing.
University spokesman Al Cubbage said Kulesza, an associate professor in the pathology department in the Feinberg School of Medicine, had been visiting Hollywood to attend a conference at a hotel. It remained unclear Monday night whether the conference was at the Westin, which hosted a semiannual meeting of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group from Thursday through Saturday.
Feinberg Prof. William Muller shared the news in a message to his colleagues Monday morning.
“Peter was a remarkable colleague, who will be remembered for his infectious enthusiasm and energy,” wrote Muller, the chair of the pathology department. “He was dedicated to our academic mission, and this was evident in his interactions with colleagues, residents, fellows, and medical students.”
Kulesza, who was known as “Peter,” was originally from Warsaw, Poland, Muller wrote. Perez said Kulesza was living in Chicago at the time of his death.
Kulesza attended the University of Alabama for his undergraduate degree and Washington University in St. Louis for his medical and doctorate degrees, Muller wrote. Kulesza served as a resident at Johns Hopkins University, where he completed a fellowship in cytopathology and became a faculty member in 2004.
Kulesza began teaching at NU in September 2009. He was also a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PatrickSvitek
