Joe Rantz

Joseph Harry Rantz, known as Joe Rantz, was an American rower and chemical engineer, born on 31 March 1914 in Spokane, Washington, who died on 10 September 2007. After a childhood in which his family abandoned him in Idaho and Washington, he reached the University of Washington, where he rowed in the senior varsity eights that won national titles in 1936 and 1937, and he won Olympic gold from the seven seat of the United States men's eight at the 1936 Berlin Games. He is the central character of the book The Boys in the Boat and of the 2023 film made from it. He worked as a chemical engineer for Boeing for 35 years and pioneered the dust-free "safe room", a precursor of the cleanroom.