Tennessee professor dies during study abroad trip in Brazil

A Columbia State Community College art professor died after being hit by a large ocean wave during a study abroad trip in Brazil.

On Thursday, Clifford Gordon and three students stopped to take photos along boulders or a wall between the road and ocean in the coastal town of Paratay. They were then hit by a wave, and Gordon was swept away. The three students were not seriously injured.

Brazilian authorities quickly launched search and rescue efforts using boats, jet skis, drones and helicopters. On Monday morning, Columbia State received word that Gordon’s body had been recovered and positively identified.

“We were heartbroken to hear of this tragic accident,” said Dr. Janet F. Smith, who is president of Columbia State Community College. “We are thankful that no students were seriously injured. Our college family mourns the loss of Clifford, who was a talented artist and greatly loved by his students. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and students.”

The Tennessee Board of Regents announced that all 12 students left Paraty on Sunday morning for Rio de Janeiro, where they spent the night. From there, they are scheduled to board a flight home on Monday afternoon and should be back in Tennessee on Tuesday. The students are traveling with a program director and are being offered counseling services, which will continue when they are back in Tennessee.

The trip was part of a statewide study abroad program that includes all Tennessee technical and community colleges. Of the 12 students on the trip, eight are from Pellissippi State, two from Columbia State, one from Walters State, and one from Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis.

Gordon taught classes including painting, printmaking and art history, and has been at Columbia State since 2008. He was an artist, whose work combined collage and painting. During the summers, he often traveled to Brazil, and had taught himself Portuguese.

Courtesy of Columbia State Community College

Clifford Gordon’s works combine painting and collage.

Gordon held an associate of science degree in art from Chattanooga State Community College, a bachelor of science degree in art from Tennessee State University, and a master of fine art degree in studio art from the Memphis College of Art.