Today

January 26, 2005

Dear faculty, students, staff, and friends,

Many of you will have already seen President Brody's announcement (see below) or the "Baltimore Sun" article containing the tragic news that Whiting School undergraduate student Linda Trinh was found dead in her apartment this weekend in the Charles Apartments, just across the street from the Homewood Campus. This is a terrible tragedy that is difficult to even begin to comprehend, and one that leaves us all numb. Those of us who are parents ourselves struggle to imagine the shock and pain that Linda's family must be enduring.

Linda was known and loved by many people on campus. Not only was she an accomplished student — twice on the dean's list — but also she was a wonderful person. A biomedical engineering major, and advisee of Dr. Eric Young, Linda split her research time working with Dr. Hai-Quan Mao's group in the Whiting School's Department of Materials Science & Engineering and with Dr. Hongjun Song's lab in the Institute for Cell Engineering in the School of Medicine. "Linda was well liked and respected by all members of the lab," says Dr. Mao. "Not only was she very influential, she was always upbeat and smiling." Anxious to get back to work on her senior design project, "Ex Vivo Expansion of Neural Stem Cells," Linda had come back to school early to get a head start.

As the police investigation continues, the Hopkins community is coming together to do its very best to help family and friends, as well as students who will be returning to campus to begin the spring semester next week. I can assure you that security issues, always a concern in and around an urban campus such as ours, will continue to be addressed by the University in cooperation with Baltimore city police. But I would also like to urge all the student community to continue to be vigilant and look out for each other whenever possible.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Linda's family and friends during this very difficult time. Plans for a memorial service are underway for the University community and details will be announced shortly.

Link to Dr. Brody's announcement
Funeral Arrangements

For a print version (PDF) of this announcement, please visit the following link: engineering.jhu.edu/include/content/pdf/dean-announcements/ lindatrinh.pdf.