GEORGE D. YANCOPOULOS, M.D., Ph.D., graduated from Columbia College as valedictorian in 1980. More importantly, George rowed for four years at Columbia, competing on the varsity for three years, and serving as co-captain in his senior year. His valedictory address focused on his rowing experiences and how they had impacted every aspect of his college life, and was published in its entirety by the New York Times as a paradigm of the student-athlete experience. Along these lines, George also won Columbia’s highly esteemed Eisenhower Award as the College’s top scholar-athlete in both his junior and senior years. After continuing his education at Columbia’s College of Physician and Surgeons, where he received both the MD and PhD degrees, George became founding scientist of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he is now the Chief Scientific Officer and President, Regeneron Research Laboratories. George also continues his long-time association with Columbia as an Adjunct Full Professor of Microbiology. In addition to building one of the most highly-respected biotechnology companies, Dr. Yancopoulos is among the most highly-regarded scientists of our time, having been listed as the 11th most highly cited scientist in the world according to a survey by the Institute for Scientific Information.

STATEMENT: “Despite my apparent focus on academics, my most important and most memorable experiences at Columbia revolved around rowing. As with many rowers, I completely devoted myself to the rigorous daily and year-round training required to compete at the highest levels, and thus I understand and remember the sacrifices and commitments we demand of our student-athletes. Though my college crews did not achieve much success, I continued rowing post-graduation with some promise, but soon had to make the then-binary choice between rowing and career. Similarly, many of my top-level competitors also ended there careers prematurely because of a lack of support. If opportunities had existed to support post-collegiate training, as will be provided by the U.S. Athletic Trust, many more of us would have chosen to continue our rowing careers. Such opportunities will not only benefit the individual competitor, but will impact our Olympic goals at the national level, by providing the base of experienced and veteran athletes who can be truly competitive at the international level. This will be particularly true in some of the lower-profile sports, such as rowing, where other forms of support are really lacking for U.S. graduates.”