A local academic whose mysterious disappearance captivated Edmontonians until his body was found in the North Saskatchewan River Tuesday will be forever immortalized by a University of Toronto scholarship established in his name.

In a letter to the UofT Mathematics Department, Chair John Bland called Robert Barrington Leigh, 20, “an exceptional student” who was “shy and modest, despite his enormous abilities.”

The student was visiting his family in Edmonton when he disappeared Aug. 13. His body was recovered Tuesday and his death ruled non-criminal.

Barrington Leigh was to enter his fourth year of math and physics studies at the UofT this fall, and was already taking graduate-level courses by his second year.

He’d won top awards there, and at several international math competitions. Bland expected him to pursue graduate studies at a top university, “and to have a brilliant career.”

A memorial for Barrington Leigh will take place in Toronto Sunday at the Duke of Gloucester pub on Yonge Street.