Planning lost one of its own over the week. University of Texas Austin Associate Dean Kent Butler died tragically this weekend while hiking in Yosemite.
Here is the official announcement from the UT:
Kent Butler, a University of Texas associate dean, died while hiking in Yosemite National Park in California, according to a UT official.
Fritz Steiner, dean of the school of architecture, said Butler was on a family trip and went hiking with his two daughters Friday. When Butler and a friend stepped aside to allow other hikers to pass, he slipped on the trail and fell to his death, Steiner said.
Butler, 60, had worked at UT since 1978.
“He was so integral to the school for so long, and the loss is so sudden, that we are still trying to cope with the loss,” Steiner said.
He said Butler set the standard for how to conserve a habitat for endangered species through his Balcones Canyon Wildlife Conservation Plan, which preserved thousands of acres for more than two dozen endangered species in Travis County.
Butler was married and had four children, Steiner said.
Kent was an awesome guy. He gave me my first job out of college and really helped all of us in our program in any way that he could. So sad that he won’t be with us anymore.