A memorial service for alumnus Andrew Grene, a senior United Nations official killed in last month's earthquake in Haiti, will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 in Bond Chapel. Family and friends will pay tribute to Grene's legacy, and his son Alex will perform an original violin composition written in honor of his father.
Grene, 44, was killed Jan. 12 in Haiti, where he was a political affairs officer in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and special assistant to H'edi Annabi, the head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
Grene was raised in Ireland and the United States. He received an AB in Romance Languages & Literatures from the University in 1987. He later studied at Trinity College in Dublin and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He began working for the United Nations in 1995. Prior to joining the U.N. mission in Haiti, he held posts in the Central African Republic and East Timor.
In a statement issued on Jan. 19, Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Miche'al Martin praised Grene's legacy, calling him "a true humanitarian."
The Grene family has strong ties to the UChicago community. His two sons are currently students at the University: Alex is a second-year, and Patrick is a third-year. Andrew Grene's father, David Grene, was a professor of Classics and a founding member of the Committee on Social Thought.
Grene's twin brother Gregory and childhood friend Timothy Perutz have established a charity in his honor. According to a statement issued by the Grene family, the Andrew Grene Foundation is "dedicated to providing educational assistance and support to the Haitian people…and seeks to assist in developing the strong and vibrant society Haiti deserves, a society in which Grene believed deeply."
For more information, please visit http://www.andrewgrene.org.
In addition to his sons and twin brother, Grene's wife, Jennifer, daughter, Rosamund, and mother, Ethel, survive him.
Related links
- Andrew Grene obituary (Jan. 19, 2010)