Richard Hooper, 40; U.N. Official Killed in Baghdad Bomb Blast

Richard Hooper, 40, a special assistant to the United Nations undersecretary general for political affairs, was killed in the bomb attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad on Aug. 19.

Born in Alameda, Calif., Hooper grew up in Boise, Idaho, but returned to California for college, graduating from UC Santa Cruz. He earned a master’s degree in Arab studies from Georgetown University and studied Arabic at the University of Damascus and then at the American University of Cairo in the mid-1980s.

He joined the United Nations in 1990 as a refugee affairs officer working for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza. He later served as a research officer and assistant chief of staff at the agency’s Vienna headquarters.

From 1995 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2001, he was special assistant to the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

“He was shrewd, witty, great company, a great colleague,” Edward Mortimer, the U.N.’s director of communications told the Associated Press. “He’s one of those people who would have gone far.”