The passengers aboard one of the planes used in the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 included one UNT alumna. Mari-Rae Sopper earned her master's degree in kinesiology in 1993. She was a passenger on the American Airlines flight from Washington that crashed into the Pentagon, according to a list released by the airline. 

She had recently been hired as a gymnastics coach by the University of California-Santa Barbara and was flying to California to begin her new job. She earned her bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1988 and a J.D. degree in 1996 from the University of Denver College of Law. 

She had been working as a litigation associate at Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard PC in Washington, D.C., after serving as assistant coach and choreographer for the women's gymnastics team at the U.S. Naval Academy. She had previously held a number of other coaching and choreographer positions.