A 63-year-old ASU doctoral student suffered a massive heart attack and died Tuesday. He had collapsed on campus earlier that morning, ASU police said.
Jerry R. Brisco, a public history doctoral student and research associate, was walking to class near Lemon Street and Forest Avenue when he collapsed in front of the south entrance to Lot 13 at about 8:40 a.m., ASU police Lt. John Sutton said.
"Fortunately, one of the first people on the scene was a registered nurse who began the process of CPR on him," Sutton said. "After the paramedics arrived, they took him to Tempe St. Luke's Hospital."
He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:17 a.m.
His wife, Barbara Brisco, said he had been receiving treatment for atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythms, for the past two months. A procedure at the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix was pending.
"We didn't think it was so serious," she said. "It was unexpected, given his general condition and type of problem."
Brisco received his master's of public history from ASU in December 2000 at the same time one of his daughters received an ASU undergraduate degree in elementary education, Barbara said.
Brisco had six children.
He also earned a master's of business administration from Harvard University and did his undergraduate work at Princeton University.
"He could always find something in common with everybody," Barbara said. "He always had a smile for everybody."
Funeral services will be held Saturday. The time and location were yet to be determined Tuesday.
Reach the reporter at kristina.davis@asu.edu.
