Leone, Flax Kaplan Honored

Peter Leone ’83 and Rachel Flax Kaplan ’03 each received an Athletics Alumni Award at the 96th edition of the Varsity C Celebration, held in Roone Arledge Auditorium on May 3. The awards are presented to alumni who have been long-term, outstanding contributors to Columbia Athletics.

Leone was a football player at Columbia and has been an ardent supporter of the program for more than a quarter-century. As president of the Columbia Football Players Club, he helps the program build alumni support, focusing on fundraising and mentoring. A financial services representative for Northwestern Mutual, he also has been president of the Columbia University Club of Pittsburgh and chair of the Western Pennsylvania Alumni Representative Committee.

Peter Leone ’83 and Rachel Flax Kaplan ’03 pose together with their Athletics Alumni Awards.

Mike McLaughlin / Columbia Athletics

Flax Kaplan was a diver at Columbia and has supported the program since graduation, serving as chair of the Diving Advisory Committee and helping to establish The Gordon Spencer Fund for Diving. She is the head teacher at the Barnard Center for Toddler Development and continues to visit Uris Pool, where she coaches club diving.