Man Who Died On Boston-Bound Flight Was Assumption Professor

WORCESTER, MA — The 59-year-old man who died on an international flight headed to Boston on Friday was an Assumption College philosophy professor. Nalin Ranasinghe had taught at the school for close to 20 years.

According to state police, Ranasinghe went into cardiac arrest at around 12:30 p.m. on Friday as his flight was nearing Logan Airport. Ranasinghe had died by the time medics were able to board the plane at around 3 p.m.

Assumption College President Francesco Cesareo sent a letter to the campus on Monday highlighting Ranasinghe's academic career. He began teaching at Assumption in 2001, and was widely published, including a trilogy of books about Socrates.

"Nalin's intellectual passions were the Great Books, the integrity of classical liberal arts education, the intersection of philosophy and literature, and the defense of the soul against theoretical and practical materialism and the advances of a technocratic spirit shorn of moral considerations," Cesareo said.

Ranasinghe had been experiencing gastrointestinal problems before he died, state police said. He was tested for COVID-19, but the results were negative.