SHANGHAI, Aug. 13 -- THOUSANDS of people are mourning the loss of a city professor who drowned after saving the lives of his students on a field trip.

He Baogen, 45-year-old vice dean of Shanghai Normal University's geography department, was found dead in a tidal creek at Dongtan wetland on Chongming Island on Friday morning.

He, leading a team of 17 students, was collecting water velocity data for his research program. When the tide swept into the wetland about 7:20pm on Thursday, He told students to evacuate onto their research boat anchored nearby.

But one student called for help when he got caught by the rapidly rising waters about 50 meters away, school officials said. The professor swam toward the student and plucked him to safety, dragging him toward the boat.

While fellow students hauled him onto the boat, He was swept away by the tide and disappeared under the water.

Police in Chongming, together with local villagers and students, set out to search for He throughout the night. But it was not until 4am that He's body was spotted in the tidal creek outside a cattle farm in Dongtan.

He's body was brought back from Dongtan over the weekend, with the funeral scheduled for tomorrow.

His students, who had been working on the summer program with He on Chongming Island since July 26, terminated the research four days ahead of schedule and returned to campus, school officials said.

The campus was in deep sorrow over the weekend as students and fellow teachers mourned the loss of their professor. Messages of grief were posted on Internet forums as the news spread.

"It's hard for me to believe that Professor He has left us," said Ma Wenting, a third-year geography major, adding that He was the most amicable and charming teacher she had ever met.

She said that He, who was nicknamed "Baobao" by his admiring students, always took money out of his own pocket to subsidize needy students with their extracurricular activities.

The university authority has issued a notice calling on all its faculties to learn from the great teacher.

Gao Jun, vice dean of the university's tourism college who had known He for 23 years, said that He's love for students and dedication to science reflected in the accident deserved the highest respect.