Ed Small, professor emeritus of film and media studies at Kansas University, has died at his home in Lawrence, the university announced in a news release. He was 74.

Small was an award-winning film-maker and scholar whose work centered on experimental and documentary films.

While his career bridged the transition to digital media, he insisted his students learn about celluloid film production.

Chuck Berg, professor of film and media studies, fondly remembers conversations with Small at Oldfather Studios about issues at in the evolving film world as well as at academic conferences.

“The best part was the midnight breakfasts, where we poured over an evening’s screenings, digging into artistic or theoretical issues that passionately engaged us,” Berg said in the release.

KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said, “Professor Small was a scholar who ensured his students’ studies of the changing film and media landscape were grounded by a solid understanding of the discipline’s history.”

Services are pending and will be announced by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.