University Shaken by Acting President's Sudden Death

Temple University has been shaken by the sudden death of acting president Joanne Epps, who collapsed on stage during an event at the Philadelphia university Tuesday. The 72-year-old collapsed at a memorial service for historian Charles Blockson, curator emeritus of the Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. University officials said Epps, who had been due to speak at the event, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 3:15pm, reports 6ABC. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Epps, a former Temple law school dean and provost, said in April that she had been brought in to "calm the waters" after a troubled period at the institution. Before coming to Temple in 1985, she was a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles and worked at the US Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, per the Inquirer. She had ties with the university for many decades: Her mother worked as a secretary there and she had a job in the campus bookstore when she was 16. Epps had planned to retire before the board asked her to step in as acting president.

"There are no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss," board chairman Mitchell Morgan said in a statement. "President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple. She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come." (More Temple University stories.)