Georgia Southern University to Host Executive Who Rebuilt His Business from the Tragic Loss of 9/11

November 28, 2011

An executive whose firm lost more than 50 employees during the 9/11 terrorist attacks will speak about rebuilding lives and rebuilding his business as part of the Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series at Georgia Southern University on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.

Jimmy Dunne will present “Starting Over:  A Ground Zero CEO’s Story of Loss, Rejuvenation and Gratitude” will be presented at 7 p.m. in the Nessmith-Lane Assembly Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Dunne’s firm, Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., was headquartered in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks killed 66 of the firm’s 171 employees and partners, including the two men who led the firm along with Dunne.  Dunne, who was not in the building at the time of the attack, was left to care for the families of the lost, his surviving employees, and the business that they depended on for their livelihood.

Today, Sandler O’Neill is one of the largest full-service investment banking firms serving the financial services sector. Dunne now oversees Sandler O’Neill’s long-term strategy and growth and plays a very active role in many of the firm’s key client relationships. His lecture at Georgia Southern will focus on how he and his firm carried on personally and professionally after the 9/11 attacks.

The Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series began in 2001. It is funded by an endowment in honor of the late Norman Fries, who was the founder of Claxton Poultry. In his more than 50 years in business, Fries built the company from a one-man operation into one of the nation’s largest poultry production plants.