Environmental engineering professor John Briscoe, who specialised in water management and received the 2014 Stockholm Water Prize—commonly referred to as “the Nobel Prize of water”—died last Wednesday of cancer. He was 66.

Peter P. Rogers, a professor of environmental engineering, taught Briscoe when he was pursuing his PhD at Harvard. Rogers recalled Briscoe as a “super student” who became a “fantastic teacher. I was looking at his teaching reviews from the students, and I remember seeing such glowing reports. He was routinely called ‘the best professor I’ve had at Harvard,’” Rogers said. “[His death] is a sad loss for Harvard and for the water community around the world.”

Briscoe graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc in Civil Engineering. He is survived by his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.