Tiger of the Week: Jim Hanks Jr. ’64

Of the many successes corporate lawyer Jim Hanks Jr. ’64 has accomplished in his life, he surely never could have predicted the one that would bring him international attention: being a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549, better known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." All 155 people on board survived the plane's emergency landing in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan Jan. 15. In the weeks since, Hanks, a partner in Venable LLP, has been speaking with grace and good humor about the day, giving interviews to publications and television stations in the United States and Europe. He was seen most recently Feb. 28 on CNN's Larry King Live, along with other passengers and crew members. Now he's in PAW's spotlight as our Tiger of the Week. In an interview in January with his hometown newspaper, The Baltimore Sun , Hanks described the harrowing moments after the landing. "We got a lot of people off the raft," he told the newspaper. "Then I heard somebody behind me yell, 'Get the old guy up! Get the old guy up!' And I looked around because I hadn't seen any older gentlemen that we might need to take care of first. I looked up and realized that the guy was talking about me." The next day, Hanks flew home to Baltimore, after thinking briefly about taking the train - especially because geese, which caused the plane to lose its engines, could be in the sky again. "But," he concluded, "I'm not about to let a bunch of geese run my life."   Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW's Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.