Brown junior, studying abroad, dies after fall from roof in Beijing

Arun Stewart, a junior who was studying at the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University, was at a recent gathering of friends on a rooftop terrace when he lost his footing and fell, Brown University president Ruth J. Simmons said in a statement released on the university’s website.

“He was one of the most gifted linguists that I have ever taught,’’ said Dore J. Levy, professor of comparative literature and East Asian Studies at Brown, who taught Stewart poetry from the Tang dynasty last spring.

“His ability to learn foreign languages was absolutely extraordinary,’’ Levy said.

The fall is believed to have happened at an apartment belonging to a friend of Stewart’s in the eastern section of the Chinese capital late Friday night or early Saturday morning, Beijing time, according to Marisa Quinn, spokeswoman for the university.

Officials in Brown’s Office of International Programs were told about Stewart’s death Friday night by representatives of the program, which is run by the University of California at Berkeley, said Quinn. Authorities in Beijing are investigating the incident, she said.

“At this point it is being reported as a tragic accident,’’ Quinn said.

Quinn said she did not know whether authorities are looking at alcohol as a factor in the fall.

Stewart’s parents were en route to Beijing, she said.

Stewart was an East Asian studies major who spoke Chinese “very fluently’’ and wanted to master Xiangsheng, a type of Chinese performance art that “is sort of a cross between Ciceronian oration and stand-up comedy,’’ Levy said.

“Very few Chinese could do such a thing, so he was very special,’’ said Levy. “He had this brilliant talent and this unique ambition.’’

Stewart lived in Hong Kong with his parents for several years in elementary school, studying Mandarin Chinese at the Hong Kong International School, according to Indy Shome, 20, who studied with Stewart in Hong Kong and later at Brown.

Alex Arruda, a 21-year-old junior at Brown who was Stewart’s roommate during their freshman and sophomore years, said Stewart loved playing slap bass guitar, the video game “Soul Calibur’’ on Xbox, and watching comedy television shows.

“We [Stewart’s friends] have this sort of small group that would take on a family-like dynamic. He was the stern father that would prevent us from going too crazy. It’s really sad because he really just had his stuff together more so than any of us, really on track academically,’’ Arruda said.

An informal gathering to remember Stewart was scheduled on Brown University’s campus for yesterday evening, and the university is planning a memorial service after Thanksgiving.