When Brad Zankel was first diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, he had
just completed his sophomore year at Princeton University. Brad was a kind,
caring and selfless individual who always put the people around him first.
He was intellectually curious and brilliant. He pursued his varied interests
with a quiet and determined passion, whether he was solving a complex math
or computer problem, interacting with family and friends, playing music, watching
a movie or comedy routine, or participating in sports. In High School, Brad
played soccer and tennis, and competed on the academic decathlon team. In
his junior year, the academic decathlon team won the New York State championship,
and Brad earned national recognition in several subject areas. In his senior
year, he was selected as a semi-finalist in the Intel/Westinghouse competition.
At Princeton, Brad, when he was not partying with his friends, was an operations
research and financial engineering major and competed as a downhill racer
on the ski team.
While Brad has been deprived of an incredible future, with unlimited potential,
he would approve of the Foundation's mission - to honor his memory by raising
and devoting funds to scientists, doctors and researchers who, with their
own passion, are seeking to cure a dreadful disease that has claimed many
lives, including Brad's. It is the Foundation's hope that, one day, malignant
brain tumors may be cured, and that The Bradley Zankel Foundation will have
been an important part of that achievement.
