A. Joshua West (born 25 March 1977) is a

dual citizen Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

British-American British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom ( England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or hist ...

Olympic

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is d ...

and

Earth Sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

professor. He is a two-time World Championship silver medalist, a World Championship bronze medalist, and a four-time Cambridge Blue, and represented Great Britain in the eight at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, won a bronze medal in the eight in the 2007 World Cup series, and won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships in the eight, and won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

in the eight in the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

."Josh West"
/ref>

Early life

West is Jewish and was born in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, United States. His mother is American and his father is British. West attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

for his undergraduate degree, majoring in geology and international studies. As an undergraduate he was a member of the

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

literary society and was a member of the crew team.Davenport College students get Marshall awards
. ''Yale Bulletin and Calendar News Stories''. 26 (18). January 26, 1998. In 1999, West attended

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

for postgraduate study as a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

. He completed a doctorate at Cambridge in 2005."Josh West '98 Earns Spot in 2008 Olympics" - Yale
/ref>

Rowing career

At Yale, West learned to row under Freshman Coach Justin Moore and Varsity Coach Dave Vogel. He participated in the Varsity Eights version of the Harvard-Yale Boat Race his senior year (1998) but lost to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...

. While studying in England, he earned a spot in the

Blue Boat The Blue Boat is the highest level boat representing the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the universities' annual rowing races on the River Thames, The Boat Race and Women's Boat Race. As of 2016, the women's first VIII ...

for

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...

against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. Earning a seat in Cambridge's Blue Boat every year until

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, West and the "Light Blues" defeated the "Dark Blues" twice in those four years (1999 & 2001). In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, West lined up against former Yale teammates Alexander Reid and Eirik Lilledahl, who were the stern pair of the victorious Oxford crew. At , West is the tallest recorded oarsman to participate in The Boat Race. He also twice won

May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of ...

headships with

Caius Boat Club Caius Boat Club (CBC; ''Caius'' pronounced ''keys'') is the boat club for members of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. The Club has rowed on the River Cam since 1827, and like the other college boat clubs its aim is to gain and hold the head ...

. Building on his Cambridge successes, West eventually became a member of the British National Rowing Team and won two silver medals (2002 & 2003) with the British Four and one bronze medal (2007) with the British Eight at the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non- Olympic years is the highlight of th ...

. West's most recent success came in the Eight rowing for Great Britain at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

in Beijing, China, where the British crew picked up a

in a close finish behind the Canadians.

Academic career

West is currently an Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and Zinsmeyer Early Career Chair in Marine Studies in the Department of

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

.Dr. A. Joshua West
/ref> His academic focus is on the chemical processes at the Earth's surface, and how they maintain a habitable planet that supports life.

References

External links

Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Josh 1977 births Living people American people of British-Jewish descent British Jews British male rowers Yale College alumni Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Sportspeople from Santa Fe, New Mexico Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Marshall Scholars Olympic medalists in rowing Jewish American sportspeople Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Members of Leander Club Cambridge University Boat Club rowers University of Southern California faculty American sportsmen World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain American earth scientists British earth scientists 21st-century American Jews Yale Bulldogs rowers

Early life

Rowing career

Academic career

See also

References

External links