Editor’s Note: The following article appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of Michigan Today.

On the one-year anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, President Mary Sue Coleman helped dedicate a plaque honoring the 18 alumni/ae of the University who were among the terrorists’ victims.

“Even those of us who are new here, recalling our experience of the national trauma in other parts of the country, now share in the collective bereavement of the University of Michigan family,” Coleman said to an overflow audience in the Alumni Center, which now houses the black granite memorial. “There are no words to describe the magnitude of our loss. They were vibrant, energetic, caring members of their communities, deeply involved with their friends and professional responsibilities.”

The following are brief sketches of those who died in the attacks:

David Alger ’68 MBA, president, Fred Alger Management, World Trade Center (WTC). Alger spoke at the Business School’s commencement in 1997 and served on the University Investment Advisory Committee.

Yeneneh Betru ’95 MD, medical affairs director, IPC, American Airlines Flight 77. Dr. Betru was a native of Ethiopia and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He specialized in improving hospital care and was in the process of developing an improved kidney dialysis machine.

Brian Paul Dale ’91 JD, senior consultant, Price Waterhouse, American Flight 11. Dale oversaw the legal and accounting activities at Blue Capital Management, the investment firm he co-founded. His job often required him to travel for business purposes.

Paul Friedman ’83 MSE, senior management consultant, Emergence Consulting, Flight 11. On the day before he boarded his flight from Boston, Friedman spent the day with his newly adopted infant son Richard “Rocky” Harry Hyun and took him to Starbucks.

James Gartenberg ’87, member of Julien J. Studley, Inc., WTC. He served as president of the Alumni Club of New York for 12 years prior to serving on the National Advisory Committee for the University Library and Task Force.

Steven Goldstein ’88, computer analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. He had begun his job two weeks before the attacks. Prior to taking the job, he worked in the basement of his family’s home developing his Internet company, which traded weather derivatives online and was bought by Cantor Fitzgerald.

Darya Lin ’91, ’97 MSE, AON Corp., WTC. Ann Arbor native Lin received her degree in industrial and operations engineering and her MA in hospital quality management.

Todd Ouida ’98, firm member, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. On his application to U-M, he wrote, “I discovered no matter how big the person is on the outside (for I am only 5’5″ tall) that the size of the heart is always going to be more important.”

Manish Patel ’02, Euro Brokers Inc., WTC. An economics major born in India, he left U-M before graduation but was posthumously granted his bachelor’s degree in August.

Laurence Polatsch ’90, partner, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. Trained as an attorney, Polatsch changed careers six years ago so he wouldn’t have to “fight with people the rest of his life,” said his father, Bernard Polatsch.

Stephen Poulos ’77/’78 MMUS, manager, AON Corp. WTC. After singing professionally as a baritone for 20 years, Poulos switched careers for financial reasons in 1996 and took up a career in information technology. Right before he died, he had joined an Internet discussion called the Opera Forum, where he was again able to express his love for music.

Gregory Richards ’92, vice president of corporate development, e-Speed, WTC. Two of his best friends and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers, Larry Polatsch and Scott Weingard, were also killed on Sept. 11.

Joshua Rosenthal ’79, senior vice president and an investment portfolio manager, Fiduciary Trust Company International, WTC. Named a Truman Fellow at Princeton University, Rosenthal was recognized for his dedication to public service, leadership qualities and scholastic achievements. He also served on the University’s Investment Advisory Committee.

Christina Ryook ’98, human resources, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. She served as an officer in both the Asian American Association and the Korean Students Association at U-M. A cultural program with the latter group for adopted Korean children won recognition as best of its kind by the United Asian Associations Organization.

Meta Fuller Waller ’73, special programs manager, Office of the Secretary of the US Army, Pentagon. When Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, Waller was working at her desk. She held a life-long interest in civil rights and attended the United Nations Conference on Racism in South Africa shortly before her death.

Scott Weingard ’93, equities manager, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. After earning his BA in business, he headed to New York City to join Hypnotic Hats, a baseball cap company his brother Robert and friends had created. He left as operations manager and had worked at Cantor Fitzgerald for a year.

Meredith Whalen ’00, research analyst, Fred Alger Management Inc., WTC. Her boss and fellow victim, David Alger, called Whalen a “rising star” in her field. Kristy Kuncaitis ’04 of Lansing, Michigan, is the first recipient of a scholarship Whalen’s mother, Patricia Whalen, endowed for women in business education.

Mark Zeplin ’90/’93 MBA, vice president, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC. At U-M he was a broadcaster for Michigan sports. His friends and family hosted a fundraiser for the Mark Zeplin Foundation, which raises money for the children who lost their parents on Sept. 11.