Online only: Rice alumna found dead after Haiti quake

By Josh Rutenberg     2/11/10 6:00pm

Diane (Berry) Caves (Baker '00), a Rice alumna who went missing shortly after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, was found dead last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Caves, a program analyst for the CDC's Atlanta headquarters, departed for Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Jan. 6, only six days before a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country.Authorities identified her body in the rubble of Hotel Montana, a popular hotel for Americans visiting Haiti, where she had been staying while on a three-week assignment to work on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Haiti. The hotel collapsed during the earthquake. Two other employees of the CDC who were in Haiti at the time of the disaster have since been found and are safe.

Caves graduated from Rice with a bachelor's degree in French Studies and Policy Studies and proceeded to earn a master's degree in Public Administration from Georgia State University. While pursuing a second master's degree in Public Health, Caves accepted a position at the CDC in 2007, working at the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. In 2009, the Atlanta Federal Executive Board awarded Caves the Employee of the Year Award in the Outstanding Professional category.

Caves lived with her husband, Jeff Caves (Will Rice '00), in Atlanta. Within a day of the hotel's collapse, Jeff Caves posted a picture of his wife along with a short description on the Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana Facebook fan page, named for the hotel where she had been staying. The page functioned as a way for families of victims to reach out for help communicating with their loved ones.

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Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, commended Caves for placing service to others above the safety of her own life.

"Diane's reasons for going to Haiti were characteristic of her deep commitment to helping others." Frieden said. "Her sharp intellect, optimism and adventurous spirit touched all who met her."

Jeff Caves and Diane's parents, Lee and Linda Berry, issued a statement thanking the community for its support.

"We are all grateful for the extensive outpouring of prayers, phone calls, e-mails and cards of support and encouragement received over the past four weeks from friends, family, co-workers and the general public," the statement said. "Diane made a difference in the world and will be missed by all who knew her."

President David Leebron issued a statement mourning the loss of Diane Caves and encouraging the community to keep those affected by Haiti in their thoughts and prayers.

"Diane's life serves as a shining example of a Rice degree put to great effect, and we are saddened that it ended too soon," Leebron said. "But, as her friend Sumona Pramanik (Jones '00) told us, Diane had an active and meaningful life and will live on through our memories."

A memorial service will be held Feb. 27 at The Carter Center in Atlanta.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations honoring Diane be sent to one of three charities: Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning where Diane had served as a trustee; Partners in Health - Stand with Haiti, which combats global disease and poverty; or Fonkoze, a non-profit bank for Haiti's poor.

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