University president killed in freak accident while visiting Frank Lloyd Wright home in Taliesin West

A Brazilian university president was struck and killed by a stray piece of roofing in a freak accident while on an architecture tour in Arizona, officials said.

Rogério Renato Mateucci, 55, was on a group tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West home in Scottsdale last Friday around 2 p.m. when high winds gusting up to 32 mph dislodged a piece of roofing, AZ Family reported.

Mateucci, rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Brazil, was struck in the head by the roofing material and died instantly in what authorities say was a weather-related accident, the outlet reported.

A spokesperson for the Scottsdale-based Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation expressed “deep condolences” over the shocking accident.

“The property is closed to the public until further notice,” the foundation announced in a statement posted on Facebook.

Mateucci had been the Catholic university’s highest-ranking director since 2022, Brazilian media outlet G1 reported.

The academic also held several education degrees, including a doctorate from Fordham University in educational leadership, according to the publication.

Classes at the college were canceled from Saturday to Monday in mourning for the death of the rector, the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná said in a statement.

The university also announced that a mass in memory of Mateucci would be held on Monday, and that the funeral would follow once his body was repatriated to Brazil.

In a press release, the university discussed Mateucci’s death in connection with the school’s Catholic beliefs.

“And, for those who believe, life is not taken from us, but transformed. Therefore, united by faith in the resurrection, let us now unite in prayer for our dearest brother Rogério,” the university concluded.