LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- The University of Kansas is mourning the death of a dance professor who fell from a New York building during the weekend.

New York City police said 59-year-old Janet Hamburg died Saturday after falling onto a construction platform.

After working briefly in transportation engineering, she earned a masters degree in dance from Mills College in California. She joined the Kansas faculty in 1979 and was the longtime chair of the dance program, now a department

Much of her work focused on senior adults and with children suffering from coordination and sensorimotor problems.

The university said in a news release that she developed an acclaimed exercise program for people with Parkinson's disease. She also was the director of senior wellness and exercise for the Center for Movement Education and Research in Los Angeles.