Seven GW alumni have been identified as victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to developing reports from the Office of Alumni Relations.
Andrew Stergiopoulos (’00), Melissa M. Harrington Hughes (’95), Todd H. Reuben (’89), John Sammartino (’86), Robert F. Mace (’84), John P. O’Neill (’78) and Sarah M. Clark were all killed in last month’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to Alumni Relations.
Stergiopoulos, 23, the youngest GW alumnus to lose his life in the tragedy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Stergiopoulos worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, a company based in New York that has “strong ties” to the school, SBPM dean Susan M. Phillips said in a letter to the community. He was working on the 105th floor of the North Tower when an airplane hit the building.
Trapped on the 101st floor of the North Tower of the World trade Center, Hughes, 31, spent her final moments calling her father and her husband of one year shortly before the tower collapsed, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A director of business development for Slam-Dunk Networks, a California-based company, she was in New York attending a financial technology conference. Hughes graduated from the SBPM with a master’s in business administration.
Reuben, 40, was a specialist in tax and partnership law, according to The Washington Post. He worked with D.C. law firm Venable LLP. His career began in 1989 with the Tucker Flyer law firm after receiving a law degree at GW. Friends and family said Reuben had a strong sense of family and was especially close with his twin 11-year old sons.
An engineer with XonTech, Inc. in nearby Rosslyn, Va., Sammartino was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 from Dulles to Los Angeles when it crashed into the Pentagon, according to The Post. Originally from New York, Sammartino moved to D.C. in the early `80s to attend GW and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He leaves behind a four-year-old daughter.
Mace was an assistant counsel with Cantor Fitzgerald and is among 700 of the company’s 1,000 presumed or confirmed dead, according to The Mercury in Pennsylvania. Mace, 43, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1980 and a law degree from GW in 1984.
Mace’s office was located on the 104th floor of WTC North Tower. His mother Wilma Stichter, brother Ken Mace and stepsister Dawn Sheffy, survive him.
Former FBI agent and one of the nation’s most refined soldiers in the war against terrorism, O’Neill died attempting to save people trapped in the WTC towers, according to USA Today. O’Neill, who received a master’s degree in forensic science from GW, served as head of security for the World Trade Center. Friends, family and colleagues told USA Today that O’Neill’s dedication to his work was his most prominent quality.
O’Neill worked for the FBI for most of his adult life, playing a crucial role in the investigations of the 1993 WTC bombing, bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Clark died doing what she loved – being a teacher, according to The Post. She was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 escorting a group of children to an ecological conference in Santa Barbara, Calif. Clark, who received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Winston-Salem University and a master’s degree in urban learning from GW, dedicated her life to teaching. Clark, 65, had been teaching in D.C. public schools for more than 35 years and was recently engaged. Her two children survive her.
In an attempt to promote a sense of community among the GW community in light of the terrorist attacks, the Office of Alumni Relations has created a special Web site listing the names and information of those alumni lost in the attack, Gosbee said. A memorial service to honor those lost in or affected by the attacks is in the early stages of discussion.
Any alumni interested in checking the status of classmates can visit the Office of Alumni Relations Web site at alumni.gwu.edu.
