A noted sculptor and metal worker whose art graces universities including UNC-Chapel Hill and Princeton died in a fall at his home that police believe was an accident. Ruffin Hobbs fell from the third floor of the 19th century grist mill near Saxapahaw that he had converted to use as a home and studio.

Alamance County Sheriff's Office spokesman Randy Jones said the 56-year-old Hobbs appeared to have hit his head on a stone stoop.

An autopsy showed he suffered a broken neck and fractured skull. A neighbor found his body about 9 a.m. Monday. Hobbs' 7,000-pound stainless steel tiger sculptures flank the north entrance of Princeton Stadium in New Jersey. One of his mobiles hangs in the neuroscience building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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