Rice alumna found dead in Haiti

By Josh Rutenberg     2/18/10 6:00pm

Diane (Berry) Caves (Baker '00), a Rice alumna who went missing shortly after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, was found dead earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The 31-year-old Caves, a program analyst for the CDC's Atlanta headquarters, arrived Jan. 6 at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, six days before the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country.

Authorities identified her body among the rubble of Hotel Montana, a popular hotel for American tourists, which had collapsed during the earthquake. Caves was staying at the hotel while on a three-week assignment to work on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Haiti. Two other CDC employees on permanent assignment to Haiti and all 35 Haitians employed by the CDC at the time of the disaster have been accounted for and are safe.

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

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Caves lived with her husband Jeff Caves (Will Rice '00), in Atlanta. Within a day of the hotel's collapse, Jeff Caves posted his wife's picture and description on the Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana Facebook page. The page encouraged victims' families to reach out for help communicating with their loved ones.

Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, expressed his sorrow in a memo to CDC employees.

"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 Feb. 9 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 on Feb. 12 to the Rice community describing Caves' service and encouraging students, faculty and staff 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 next Saturday at The Carter Center in Atlanta.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations honoring Diane be sent to one of three charities: the 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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