Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Obituary Raines (L ’82) On Flight 77

Obituary Raines (L ’82) On Flight 77

By Anne Rittman Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya A student participates in a candlelight vigil on Thursday night.

Lisa J. Raines (L ’82) died Tuesday while aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when the hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon. Other Georgetown University alumni remain missing after Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

Raines, 42, was senior vice president of government relations at Genzyme Corporation and a resident of Great Falls, Va. She is the first confirmed Georgetown graduate to have perished in the attack.

According to a statement released by Genzyme Wednesday, Raines is survived by her husband, Stephen Push, a former vice president of corporate communications at Genzyme, a biotechnology company that develops medical products.

Bill Reynolds (COL ’79), associate vice president for alumni relations, expressed deep sympathy for Raines’ family. “I hope that we may pray and come together in the tradition of Georgetown,” he said.

Raines died with Leslie Whittington, a professor at Georgetown’s Public ployed at Genzyme since 1993. Responsible for federal legislative and regulatory policy issues, including the enactment of major health care legislation which included the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997, the FDA Export Reform and Enhancement Act of 1996 and the Biotechnology Patent Protection Act of 1995. She also worked with the FDA in 1997 to develop a new policy governing cellular therapies.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Lisa Raines. Lisa was a great friend and a brilliant colleague. She was a tremendous advocate for this company and for the biotechnology industry, who worked tirelessly and effectively in Washington to ensure that the best medicines reached patients,” Genzyme Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henri A. Termeer, said in a release. “We will greatly miss her. On behalf of everyone at Genzyme, I want to extend our deepest sympathies to Lisa’s family, including her husband Steve Push, and her friends during this difficult time.”

Raines also worked with the Industrial Biotechnology Association as director of government relations and as vice president. According to the press release, she helped formulate the Drug Export Amendments Act of 1986, the Process Patent Amendments Act of 1988 and the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992.

Before her employment with the IBA, Raines served as study director and legal analyst in the biotechnology program of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment.

In addition to earning a law degree from Georgetown University Law School, Raines earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She was a member of the bar in Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

Raines was among the 64 people aboard Flight 77.

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