#036. Andrew Towne: crossing the Drake Passage from Chile to Antarctica in a rowboat

Andrew Towne is an endurance athlete, speaker, lawyer and international business consultant.

Andrew holds 5 world records in ocean rowing, US national championships in collegiate rowing and club running, and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He has also climbed the tallest mountain on every continent (including Mt Everest).

Passionate about international relations, Andrew advises multi-national corporations on strategic and organizational issues as a Principal in the Boston Consulting Group's Minneapolis office. Andrew has lived/worked in 8 countries, promotes intercultural exchange as the Board Chair of Youth For Understanding USA and has served the US government in a variety of foreign policy roles.

Andrew earned his JD/MBA from The Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a Morgenthau Scholar, Friedman Scholar, and Institute of Law and Economics Scholar. Andrew holds a bachelor's degree in political science with honors from Yale University and studied for a year at the University of Nairobi as an NSEP Boren Scholar. 

Resources:
Andrew’s Instagram account
Andrew’s Wikipedia page
The Impossible Row - 14 short videos about the trip
The Impossible Row - feature-length documentary available by signing up for a free 7-day trial of Discovery+ and searching within its streaming content for “The Impossible Row”

Articles:

• “6 Men Successfully Cross Drake Passage in a Rowboat” (National Public Radio Morning Edition)  
• “Minneapolis resident among rowers who were first to cross Drake Passage” (Minnesota Public Radio All Things Considered)

Andrew’s recommended books:
Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown)
Profiles in Courage (JF Kennedy)
A Grief Observed (CS Lewis)