One wanted to communicate better with a Russian friend; the other wanted to re-connect with his family's heritage, including a grandfather who is "full-blooded" Russian.

For different reasons, Kara Ewell and Rober Pole took a special interest in Russioan studies while at the College of Willaim and Mary. They'll both take their first trip there next month.

And now the 20-year-old juniors have something else in common--both are the first recipients of the inaugural Mark G. Ludvigsen Memorial Scholarship, named after the 1991 graduate at the college who died Sept 11 in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Known to his college rugby teammates as "Lud" the scholarship was established in Mark Ludvigsen's name last fall by his family and friends. The 32--year old worked as a bond salesman for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods on the 89th floor of the south tower,WTC.

The scholarship will award the sudents $1000 each toward a six -week summer program in Russia. The program includes three classes and counts as nine college credit hours.

Thanks to the scholarship, the sudents will be heading for the program next month at St. Petesburg State University. They"ll take language classes taught by Russian faculty, as well as lectures on culture given by visiting professors from William and Mary.

Home-schooled through high school, Pole took his first course in international relations while a 16-year-old student at a community college in Maryland. He was hooked and said he hopes to eventually have a career on the public policy side of the international scene.

Pole--who grew up in Rockville. Md. but now considers his gandmother' house in Weems, Va. as a second home--said he always wanted to travel but never had the opportunity.

Ewell hopes to visit with her high-schoole friend, Violetta Dotsenko, while in Russia. The two met while Dotsneko was a Russio exchange student attending Nansemond River High School in Suffolk. After Violetta moved home, Ewell decided to learn a little of the langage.

"I never even thought about Russia until I met her," said Ewell, who is a sociology major with a minor in Russian studies." I just wnated to write her in Russian on day." Ewell might get to hand-deliver one of those letters to her friend, who now lives in Taganrog.

Without the scholarship, Ewell said, she probably couldn't afford the course, which costs more than $3000, not including airfare.

"I will never forget their kindness." she said.

A native from Canada who moved to the United States as a child, Mark Ludvigsen liked to travel and would have approved of the global-education scholarship, his friends say..An econmics major at William and Mary, he was a four-year member of the William and Mary Rugby Football Cllub.

His Colleges rugby coach, Cary Kennedy, said Mark grew from a thin kid without a lot of talent into a complete, dominant rugby player. In college, he played a forward position, which is similar to a lineman in football, or someone who is in the middle of the pysical contact.<> "He not only grew into a fearless rugby player, he never saw the dark side of anything," Kennedy said. "He had a notion he ws gong to do well. It was just optimistic determination."Kennedy said that positive attitude tanslated into Mrk's life after college. He said Mark moved to New York City shortly after graduation. He lived in the city and became a force in the national rugby scene, serving as prsident of the New York Athletic Club Rugby Football Club.

He and his wife, Maureen Kelly Ludvigsen, had been married about three years. His parents, Karl and Christina, live nearby in Pottersville, N.J.

On Sept 11, 2001, Mark Ludvigsen and two rugby mates who also worked for the same firm were among the missing following the collapse of the south tower.

Reports have Mark phoning his mother--just minutes before the south tower was rocked by a hijacked airplane--to tell her he ws safe and for her not to worry..

To Kennedy, that sounds just like the Mark Ludvigsen he knew "Mark doesn't panic," he said. "I just can't see him running down the stairs at the first moment of terror when the north tower was hit. I don't think he had a sense of absolute doom until it was too late."

Lived in New YOrk City with his wife, Maureen Kelly Ldvigsen. Also survived by his parents, Karl and Christina Ludvigsen, and his sister, Clare Ludvigsen, a 1992 graduate of Williamand Mary.

President of the New York Atheletic Clubs's Rugby Team, where he was known as a top player and recruiter for the natiionally known rugby club.

Ludvigsen, 32, woked as a bodn salesman for Keefe,Bruyette & Woods on the 89th floor of the South tower of the World Trade Center.

Donations to the Mark Gavin Ludvigen Memorial Scholarshi Fund can be sent to: The Endowment Association, The College of William and Mary, Po ox 1693, Williamsburg, Va. 23187. Reference the Ludvigsen scholarship in the check memo section.

Source: Society of the Alumni at the College of William and Mary