Donald M. "Don" Spero (born August 9, 1939) is an American physicist, venture capitalist, and a former U.S. and world champion

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who competed at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

and won the single sculls

1966 World Rowing Championships The 1966 World Rowing Championships was the second time that world championships in rowing were held. The regatta was held from 8 to 11 September at Lake Bled in Bled, Slovenia, Yugoslavia. There were 613 rowers from 32 countries who competed ...

. He also won a gold medal at the

1961 Maccabiah Games The 6th Maccabiah Games were held in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1961, with 1,100 athletes from 27 countries competing in 18 sports. The Games were officially opened in an Opening Ceremony on August 29, 1961, in Ramat Gan Stadium by Israeli president Yi ...

in the

coxed four A coxed four, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one ...

, and won the 1963 and 1964 U.S. national championships. He was elected to the Helms/Rowing Hall of Fame,

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Hall of Fame,

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

Hall of Fame, and

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...

Early life and education

Spero was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, and is Jewish. He received his degree in

Engineering Physics Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medic ...

with honors in 1962 from

, where he was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society and elected to

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

. He received a Ph.D. in

Plasma Physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and performed post-doctoral work in Physics at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

.. New Markets Venture Partners Spero rowed for the

. He lives in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

Rowing career

As a freshman at Cornell University in 1957, Spero was unaware of the competitive sport of rowing. He was in the Cornell freshman eight that won the 1958

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing between Varsity team, varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, whil ...

(IRA) Championship under coach Carl F. Ullrich. During his next three years on the varsity squad under the Cornell coach R. H. (Stork) Sanford, Spero was a member of two more championship crews. His first international competition came at the World

, when he won a gold medal in the

, along with coxswain and coach Allen Rosenberg. He took up sculling in 1963, winning the U.S. National Championships in

single scull A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-se ...

s against the former national champion

Seymour Cromwell Seymour Legrand "Sy" Cromwell II (February 17, 1934 – May 2, 1977) was an American rower. He won a silver medal in the double sculls event at the 1964 Summer Olympics and at the 1966 World Rowing Championships. Private life Cromwell was born ...

. Together he and Cromwell won the 1963 U.S. National Championship in

double scull A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") ar ...

s, and went on to bring the U.S. a silver medal in the

European Rowing Championships The European Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organised by World Rowing (named FISA until 2020) for European rowing nations, plus Israel, which, though not a member of the European federation, is treated as a European n ...

in Copenhagen, behind the Czechs and ahead of the Russians. In 1964 Spero joined the New York Athletic Club and won his second U.S. Single Sculls Championship. He then represented the

United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics The United States competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 346 competitors, 267 men and 79 women, took part in 159 events in 19 sports. Medalists The United States finished first in the final medal rankings, with 36 gold and 90 tot ...

at Tokyo in the single sculls. Spero defeated the reigning Olympic champion Vyacheslav Ivanov of the U.S.S.R in the preliminary heats, advancing to the finals and finishing sixth. Also in 1964, he won a bronze medal in the single sculls at the European Championships in Amsterdam. In 1965, Spero trained on

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

with

Martin Studach Martin Andreas Studach (17 May 1944 – 24 March 2007) was a Swiss rower who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics. Biography Studach was born in Küsnacht, Zurich, the son of Eugen Studach who had been a champion ...

and

Melchior Bürgin Melchior Rudolf Bürgin (born 17 October 1943) is a former Swiss rower who competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. Bürgin partnered Martin Studach in the double sculls rowing for Switzerland at the 1964 Summer Olympics when they ...

and went with them to

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

, where he won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowin ...

(the premier singles sculls event) and Studach and Bürgin won the

Double Sculls Challenge Cup The Double Sculls Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's double sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two clubs may combine to m ...

, both setting new Henley course records. Spero also won the gold medal at the 1965

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

International Regatta and the U.S.

Quadruple sculls A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each han ...

championship. In 1966, he repeated as U.S. Champion in Single Sculls. Then at the

in Bled,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, he became the World Single Sculls Champion, defeating the Olympic champion Ivanov. Spero was also a founder of the National Rowing Foundation in 1966, and was a director from 1967 to 1984. He was elected to the Helms/Rowing Hall of Fame in 1966, Cornell University Hall of Fame in 1984, New York Athletic Club Hall of Fame in 1986, and

in 1993.

Business career

Spero conducted

post-doctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

in physics at the

, which resulted in the development of high intensity microwave lamps. This became the core technology for Fusion Systems Corporation, which he co-founded in 1972 and of which he served as president and CEO for 21 years. The company had a successful

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 1994, and was subsequently acquired by Heraeus Technology Group. In 1992 he founded Spero Quality Strategies, a strategic advisory and

angel investing An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups A startup or start-up is a company or p ...

firm. In 2000 Spero was recruited to be Director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Maryland, Smith School of Business. In 2002 Spero co-founded New Markets Venture Partners, of which he is a General Partner.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spero, Donald 1939 births American male rowers Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Olympic rowers for the United States Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Living people Jewish American sportspeople Columbia University alumni University System of Maryland alumni Rowers from Chicago People from Bethesda, Maryland Competitors at the 1961 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States World Rowing Championships medalists for the United States European Rowing Championships medalists 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American sportsmen