Beau Biden, the son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and a Syracuse University College of Law alumnus, died Saturday of brain cancer at age 46.

Biden received a law degree from the SU College of Law in 1994, following in the footsteps of his father and late mother, who also attended the College of Law. He delivered the commencement address for the College of Law in 2011.

“The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us — especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter,” Joe Biden said in a statement.

Biden served as the attorney general of Delaware from 2007 until January of this year. He was also a veteran who served in the Iraq War.

“Beau was a dedicated public servant who faithfully served the people of Delaware as Attorney General and defended our nation abroad as member of the National Guard,” Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said in a statement. “His loss as this young age is tragic. He lived his short life to the fullest and our entire country is a better place for his having lived.”

Said Joe Biden: “Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.”