Sherry Koshman had just had major surgery, but that didn't matter. Her student needed her.

Ms. Koshman, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Sciences, pestered her doctors until they let her leave the hospital. Tingting Jiang, then one of Ms. Koshman's doctoral students, was about to give her preliminary oral presentation in 2006, and Ms. Koshman was determined to be there.

"A few inspiring words, a comforting hug, and a reassuring smile -- these were all I needed to boost my confidence, and she brought them to me timely even if she had to walk on crutches," Ms. Jiang, who now lives in Wuhan, China, said in an email.

"She was probably about the toughest person I've ever met," said Ms. Koshman's husband, Dennis Moul.

Ms. Koshman, of the Ingomar section of McCandless, died of heart complications Sunday at UPMC Presbyterian. She was 46.

Although Ms. Koshman suffered from a series of health issues during the past several years, she never let it affect the calm and efficient attitude she carried with her all her life.

"She never talked about being ill. Never," said Mary Biagini, chairwoman of Pitt's Library and Information Science program. "She worked up until the moment she had to go to the hospital."

Ms. Koshman's dedication to teaching and academic pursuits began in her childhood in Canada. She was raised as an only child in Theodore, Saskatchewan, where her parents emphasized the value of education.

Ms. Koshman graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, studying English and music. She then attended McGill University in Montreal to get a master's degree in music.

But practical concerns led Ms. Koshman to change her studies to information sciences. Mr. Moul said her music professors begged her not to leave the music program because of her skill at piano, saxophone and voice.

She met her husband in 1991 upon entering the doctoral program at Pitt, where Mr. Moul was getting his master's degree in telecommunications.

Ms. Koshman received her doctorate in 1996, but her verve for intellectual pursuits never wavered. She avidly followed world events, using that information to engage in stimulating discussions with her colleagues and friends. She even enjoyed debating her father-in-law at the dinner table.

Her drive to succeed created some friendly competition between Ms. Koshman and her Pitt classmate David Dubin, who is now an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"If Sherry came in one point ahead of me [on an exam], I would have tried to forget it, and she would have remembered it," Mr. Dubin said.

"She was extremely well-read, she could think on her feet. She was just mentally agile," he said.

Mr. Dubin said Ms. Koshman was passionate about teaching. He said she would always treat her colleagues and students with the greatest respect, formally addressing them even though people tend to be on a first-name basis in professional school.

"This is a habit I keep up to this day simply because I was sensitized to the importance of treating colleagues with great respect, because of what Sherry exhibited," Mr. Dubin said.

Mr. Moul said Ms. Koshman's students would get nervous about defending their theses, but that she would calmly and methodically help them with the process, always saying, "Don't worry, we can handle this."

Ms. Koshman applied the same respect and care to her two daughters, Natalie and Valerie. She and her husband adopted the girls from an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Besides passing on to them her love for music, she also read to them every night, eventually amassing a collection of about 750 children's books.

In addition to her husband and daughters, Ms. Koshman is survived by her parents, Martin and Elaine Koshman of Theodore, Saskatchewan.