Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
We received word today that one of our own was among those killed in the violent takeover of the Westgate Mall in Kenya.
Elif Yavuz, a 2004 graduate of our Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, was living in Africa, working for the Clinton Foundation and fighting malaria.
We know from media reports that she was eight months pregnant, and that she and her partner, Ross Langdon, were visiting Nairobi. Ross, an award-winning architect who designed an HIV/AIDS hospital pro bono and focused on environmentally and socially sustainable tourism infrastructure, also was killed.
Elif, a Dutch citizen of Turkish heritage, studied at the SAIS Bologna Center in 2002-2003 and in Washington the following year, earning a Master of Arts degree and concentrating in European studies. After SAIS, she worked for the World Bank before attending the Harvard School of Public Health. She earned a ScD there earlier this year, doing her dissertation on malaria in East Africa, and then joined the Clinton Foundation.
On behalf of the Johns Hopkins community, I will be expressing our deepest condolences to Elif’s family and loved ones.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Daniels
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