Junior Meyerhoff Scholar Jamie Heard was found dead in his Erickson Hall dorm room Sunday morning, according to UMBC police.

An undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, Heard died in his sleep. He was 21.

"He always said 'life is beautiful,'" said Amara Bukhari, one of Heard's close friends. "He was just the type of person that it didn't matter what you did, he liked you."

A candlelight vigil will be held Thursday, May 1 from 7 p.m. to midnight on Erickson Field. The theme of the vigil is "Start Monkeying Around for Jamie." The theme comes from a running joke among friends that Heard, who always carried fruit in his pockets, was the "best looking monkey" they'd ever meet.

Heard was discovered in bed by his roommates at noon on Sunday morning. The students called the Erickson Hall front desk, which alerted police, when Heard was found unresponsive.

According to UMBC Chief of Police Antonio Williams, Baltimore County police and paramedics were immediately notified of the situation. Williams said that UMBC police "take more or less a secondary or support roll" in the investigation of a death on campus. Heard was pronounced dead on the scene.

Heard was diabetic, and though no official cause of death has been released, friends said Heard was in a constant battle to control his illness. Earlier this year, police and paramedics were summoned when Heard was found seizing in his Erickson dorm room.

"The one thing he said he was afraid of was going to sleep and not waking up," said a teary-eyed Bukhari, watching videos of Heard with friends on her laptop in the Academic Services building conference room.

Bukhari and Abraham Khan, who both attended school at Suitland High in Prince George's County with Heard, said that the three were more like family than friends.

"I still remember the first time I met him," said Khan. Heard moved to Maryland from Seattle, Wash. and, according to Khan, immediately fit in. "He just walked up to me, shook my hand and said 'Hi, I'm Jamie. I'm new here.'"

"Seeing him was always the brightest part of my day," he said.

Friends said that Heard could "make a stranger feel like a best friend," and that he dressed up for class every day. It was on one such day that Tamara Nicholls, Heard's girlfriend, "fell in love immediately."

"[Heard was] simply a wonderful soul with limitless capabilities," Nicholls said.

The junior was an active member of the UMBC community. According to an e-mail sent out to the campus by Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Nancy Young, Heard worked as a Welcome Week Woolie, Residential Life staff member, and played recreational soccer.

He also had a passion for reading, playing the piano, and writing poetry. According to friends, Heard was known as "Mr. Have You Read That Book?" because of his penchant for reading everything he could get his hands on. Khan said the last book his friend had been reading was the Quran.

From students to the administration, Heard is remembered as an exceptional young man, who touched a great many people in his three years at UMBC.

"He made me want to be a better person," Brad Hinkleman, another friend, said. "Everyday of my life."

"Jamie was an upbeat, motivating, inspiring guy," said Kim Leisey, UMBC's Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs. Leisey got to know Heard through his employment with Residential Life. "He was a good guy, very real, very positive. Just a really good guy."

Keith Harmon, assistant director of the Meyerhoff Scholar program, described Heard as "a friend to the world."

"If you didn't like Jamie Heard, there was probably something wrong with you," Harmon said from his office in Academic Services.

"He [Heard] was a top UMBC student," Harmon said.

According to friends, Heard was planning to pursue a Ph.D. upon graduation, maybe at Rutgers University, where he wanted to research Type-1 Diabetes. Others say that Heard sometimes talked of being president one day.

"Most of all, he just wanted to make an impact," Khan said.

If the popular social networking website Facebook is any indication, Heard succeeded in making an impact. As news spread Sunday night that Heard had passed, hundreds of posts from UMBC students who knew Heard appeared on his profile page.

"It would take us so long to get to eat sometimes, because Jamie would be talking to everyone in the Commons," Bukhari said.

In addition to Thursday evening's vigil, friends plan to work with the music department at UMBC to dedicate a piano in the Fine Arts building – the one that Heard would often play – to the late student. A slideshow presentation is also scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and plans to take donations for a scholarship fund in Heard's honor are being discussed.

"He was such an angel," Bukhari said. "He always said 'Don't worry about me, I'm going to outlive you all.'"

While Heard may not have outlived his friends in days, they all agreed that the affable scholar, musician, and athlete outlived them in experiences.

Jamie Heard is survived by his father Robert Heard, and Robert's wife Jeanine. Jamie also has a brother, Brooks Heard, and five step-siblings.