Goizueta mourns

The Goizueta Business School community mourns the loss of Todd Reuben ’83BBA and Ehtesham Raja ’98MBA. Both died on Sept. 11. Reuben was a passenger on American Airlines flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. Raja was attending a conference in the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Ehtesham Raja

“He was a very kind, caring, compassionate, loving, and intelligent person,” says his mother, Asmat Fatima. “He was respected and admired by those who knew him. His talent and sense of humor made him standout in any crowd. But it was his loving and caring attitude that always made me proud.”

Raja, born in Lahore, Pakistan, worked for TCG Software in Bloomfield, N.J. After graduating with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering from Columbia University in New York City, he worked as a security engineer at Citibank on Wall Street, then, according to his Goizueta Business School application, he returned to Pakistan to work for Citibank Lahore, take the GMAT, and apply to business school.

“He was in the best years of his life,” says Fatima. “Everything seems to be going in his favour. After years of dedication and hard work he finally achieved this status. He had all the plans to pursue his career in finance. He was full of hope for his future.”

Raja also enjoyed sports. He was a swimmer and played cricket, squash, soccer, tennis, and polo while at Columbia.

A memorial service was arranged by TCG Software. “They were proud to have him working for them,” his mother says.

“It is still very hard to believe that he is missing and lost forever,” she continues. “I have to be emotionally strong as Ehtesham has a younger brother, who is at a very impressionable age.

“[Ehtesham] knew life and lived life. His time was limited but in that time he touched so many people. . . . May peace be with him now and forever. He will stay in our hearts and memories forever.”

Todd Reuben

Voicing a sentiment felt worldwide, “It’s not fair what happened,” says Michael Levy ’85BBA, Reuben’s brother-in-law.

Levy and Reuben were classmates, then became family when Levy’s sister Vivian ’83C married Reuben in 1987.

At Emory, Reuben played on the varsity soccer team, and was a member of Hillel, Beta Alpha Psi, and Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity.

Following graduation, Reuben received a CPA and worked at Raznick Fedder and Silverman, a law firm in the Washington, D.C., area. In 1989, he received a J.D. degree from George Washington University Law School.

According to friends and family, Reuben loved sports, he was a talented athlete, and had a competitive spirit, qualities that were passed down to his children, Levy says.

Reuben was a partner in tax and business transactions practice at Venable in Washington, D.C. “One thing that sticks in my mind is something his boss said during the eulogy: ‘Family came first, friends came second, and the law firm came third.’ He was a great person and a phenomenal father,” Levy says.

A memorial service was held Sept. 16. Reuben leaves behind his wife and eleven-year-old twin sons, Jeffrey and Jason.—Denise Noble