Zack Zeng (September 30, 1972 – September 11, 2001), also known by his Chinese name Zhe Zeng (; ) was a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and volunteer

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (often, more simply, EMT) is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and som ...

(EMT) known for providing aid to the injured at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in New York City, during which he lost his own life.

Early life and career

Zeng was born on 1972 in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. He attended Guangzhou No. 1 Middle School and in 1988, he immigrated to the United States with his parents. He completed his undergraduate and master's degree in business administration from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1998. In the same year, he joined the

Bank of New York The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

as an assistant treasurer at the bank's receipts depository division. During part time, he worked as a volunteer EMT with the voluntary ambulance in

Brighton, New York Brighton, New York may refer to: *Brighton, Franklin County, New York, a town *Brighton, Monroe County, New York, a town * Brighton, Erie County, New York * Brighton, Syracuse, New York, a neighborhood in Syracuse, New York See also *Brighton Beac ...

September 11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, Zeng was in his office at the Bank of New York building at

101 Barclay Street 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

when the South Tower of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

collapsed at 9:59 a.m after being struck by

United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as ...

at 9:03 a.m. As a result, he and other occupants in the Bank of New York building were forced to evacuate due to the building's close proximity to the World Trade Center. Following the collapse of the South Tower, Zeng, due to his EMT experience, collected medical supplies from his office and informed his colleagues that he was heading to World Trade Center site to help the rescue workers and aid the injured. He called his mother and informed her that he was fine and he was going to save people, which would be his last words to her. Upon his arrival at the site, he was reported to be seen alongside firemen who were assisting two injured women to safety and appeared in the news footage of WNYW-TV Fox 5 where he was seen providing emergency aid at the site. Zeng was killed when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 10:28 a.m.

Legacy

In May 2002, he was posthumously awarded certificate of commendation by the

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

. Zeng's remains were recovered on May 18, 2002, and his funeral services were held on September 7, 2002, at

Chinatown, New York This article discusses Chinatowns in the Americas, urban areas with a large population of people of Chinese descent. The regions include: Canada, the United States, and Latin America. Locations Canada Chinatowns in Canada generally exist in t ...

, which was attended by more than 100 people, including then Chinese Consul General in New York Zhang Hongxi. During the funeral services, Timothy Kearney, a representative of Bank of New York announced that the bank would dedicate one of its conference rooms in Zeng's honor and would raise money every year for Brighton Volunteer Ambulance. Memorial services honoring Zeng were also held in Fengqing Shouyue Primary School and his alma mater No. 1 Middle School in Guangzhou where students were taught about his heroism. He was survived by his older brother Zeng Shen and mother Cen Jiaoxian. In December 2003, Manhattan Community Board #3 passed a motion to name a block in Bayard Street in New York's Chinatown as Zhe "Zack" Zeng Way. In 2016, the Brighton Volunteer Ambulance dedicated one of their ambulances in honor of Zeng. A plaque honoring Zeng is placed on a patio at the

Simon School of Business Simon Business School (formerly known as the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration) is the business school of the University of Rochester. It is located on the university's River Campus in Rochester, New York. It was renam ...

at the University of Rochester. At the

National September 11 Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...

, Zeng is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-37.

References

External links

"20 Years After 9/11 - Remembering Zack Zeng"
Apple Podcast. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeng, Zhe 1972 births 2001 deaths American financial businesspeople University of Rochester alumni Businesspeople from New York City Terrorism deaths in New York (state) Victims of the September 11 attacks People from Guangzhou People murdered in New York City Chinese emigrants to the United States 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Guangdong