NJ grad dies climbing college building
He was by all accounts brilliant — and then last week, a daring stunt ended his life.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate died Wednesday when he fell to his death as he tried to climb the roof of the domed Engineering library, authorities and family members said.
Accomplished computer programmer Nicholas Paggi — a 2015 MIT grad and Bayville, NJ, native — was with roommates who are still graduate students there when he fell.
“He came down the side of one of the roofs, came across the front and slipped going back up the other side,” his mother, Helga Paggi, told CBS in Boston from her home in Toms River, NJ.
Paggi’s body was recovered from bushes alongside the campus landmark.
The death is being considered an accident, said spokespeople for the campus and the local district attorney.
The “Great Dome” of MIT’s Barker Engineering Library — jokingly referred to by students as “The Center of the Universe” — is the frequent target of pranksters intent on “hacking the dome” by festooning it with banners and other objects.
But Paggi and his friends just wanted to climb to a lower ledge of the building, his brother Alex told The Post.
“It was raining, and he slipped,” the brother said.
“We believe after talking with his friend that they decided to go just for something to do and not to one-up anyone,” the brother added.
Paggi graduated with degrees in computer science and physics, according to thetech.com, the student newspaper.
He was working as a software engineer at Ab Initio Software in Lexington, Mass., the paper said.
MIT research scientist Rich Fletcher told the paper that he had continued to consult with Paggi after his graduation and called him a “brilliant programmer.”
“The world has lost a kind soul and great thinker,” Fletcher said.