Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

WTC Investigation Team Members

World Trade Center Investigation Team Members

Shyam Sunder  

Lead Technical Investigator

William Grosshandler  

Associate Technical Investigator
Project Leader, Project 4:
Investigation of Active Fire Protection Systems

H.S. Lew   Co-Project Leader, Project 1:
Analysis of Building and Fire Codes and Practices
Richard Bukowski   Co-Project Leader, Project 1:
Analysis of Building and Fire Codes and Practices
Fahim Sadek   Project Leader, Project 2:
Baseline Structural Performance and Aircraft Impact Damage Prediction
Frank Gayle   Project Leader, Project 3:
Mechanical and Metallurgical Analysis of Structural Steel
Richard Gann   Project Leader, Project 5:
Reconstruction of Thermal and Tenability Environment
John Gross   Co-Project Leader, Project 6:
Structural Fire Response and Collapse
Therese McAllister   Co-Project Leader, Project 6:
Structural Fire Response and Collapse
Jason Averill   Project Leader, Project 7:
Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communications
Randy Lawson   Project Leader, Project 8:
Fire Service Technologies and Guidelines
Harold E. Nelson   Fire Protection Engineering Expert
Stephen Cauffman   Program Manager

NIST Expert Consultants

Valentine Junker

Mr. Junker acted as the WTC Investigation team's liaison in New York charged with helping with the identification of relevant visual material, interfacing with copyright holders, receiving and forwarding to NIST photographs and videos to be used for investigative purposes, and obtaining necessary copyright releases. Mr. Junker was uniquely qualified for this position based on more than 15 years in the information technology field, with emphasis on digital workflow and image capture, storage, and reproduction technologies and extensive experience in the collection of visual material related to the World Trade Center disaster. As a volunteer, he worked extensively with the Here Is New York exhibition that chronicled the events of September 11th in a number of shows worldwide. His responsibilities included developing approaches for acquiring photos and videos, developing procedures for handling material, and specifying and setting up the computer systems used to digitize and archive various forms of photos and video. Through his efforts with Here Is New York, Mr. Junker became associated with the SEAoNY and FEMA World Trade Center Building Performance Study (BPS). Initially, he acted as the liaison between the Here Is New York exhibition and the BPS team, but ultimately his duties grew until he was the primary person responsible for the BPAT team's efforts to secure photo and videographic imagery and for establishing a database of images. He was instrumental in obtaining the necessary copyright releases for images published in the BPS team's final report.

Vincent Dunn Retired FDNY, Consultant, Educator, and Fire Service Writer, Building Construction and Fire Department Operations Mr. Dunn has more than 40 years experience with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) as a firefighter and fire officer in midtown New York City working with fire fighting operations and rescue of building occupants. His work included daily activities associated with the protection of occupants and safe fire service operations in high rise buildings. Mr. Dunn's fire service career includes responsibilities as a Battalion Chief, and Deputy Chief where he managed operations and personnel in Division 7 and Division 3 of FDNY. He has been involved with the firefighter training, fire safety directors, and New York City building codes. Mr. Dunn is a nationally recognized authority on fire fighting operations in tall buildings, the safety of firefighters related to structural fire fighting, and the collapse of structures. He is a member of NFPA and several other professional organizations. Mr. Dunn is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine, and holds a Masters Degree from Queens College, City University of New York.

John J. Hodgens Retired FDNY, Consultant, Fire Science and Fire Department Operations Mr. Hodgens has more than 30 years experience as a career firefighter and officer in lower and midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island in New York City. Mr. Hodgens was the FDNY Technology Manager and Chief of Fire Prevention and worked with World Trade Center fire fighting technology, fire prevention processes, fire safety directors, and operations. As a Citywide Tour Commander, Mr. Hodgens has extensive command level working knowledge of the New York City Fire Department. He was also a member of the New York City, World Trade Center Code Revision Committee following the terrorist attack on the Trade Center, in 1993. He has also worked closely with NFPA, Life Safety Codes. He has written journal articles on "Fire Command" and "Safe Use of Elevators During Fires." Mr. Hodgens is a graduate of New York City Community College of the City University of New York in Brooklyn, and John Jay College in Manhattan, New York City.

Kevin S. Malley Retired FDNY, Fire Science Program Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Fire Science, New Jersey City University Mr. Malley has more than 20 years experience as a career firefighter and fire officer in Manhattan, Harlem, and South Bronx. He has worked closely with the FDNY firefighter training program and was the Director of Human Performance for FDNY. He has extensive experience and knowledge related to the physical performance of firefighters, health and safety of firefighters, and the capabilities of firefighters and their equipment when operating in life saving and fire fighting environments. He worked with the NFPA Committee on Structural Fire Fighting Protective Clothing and Equipment and the NFPA Committee on Special Operations Protective Clothing and Equipment. Mr. Malley has also worked with the training of high-rise building Fire Safety Directors. He was a Guest Researcher for FDNY at NIST, in 1998. He has written numerous publications for the fire service concerning firefighter health and safety. Mr. Malley is a graduate of Columbia University and holds a Masters Degree from Queens College. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Fire Science at New Jersey City University.

Created July 27, 2011, Updated April 5, 2022