OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS PEGGY FLEMING AND DAN JANSEN TO BE HONORED AT 20TH ANNIVERSARY LOMBARDI GALA

Washington, DC - Miracles, the 20th Anniversary Lombardi Gala to benefit cancer research at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, will honor three heroes on Saturday, October 29, at the Hilton Washington & Towers.

Gala honorees include Olympic Gold Medalist in Figure Skating Peggy Fleming, who will receive the Lombardi Symbol of Courage Award, bestowed each year on a sportsperson who has survived cancer and possesses the inspirational qualities of the late football coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the center is named. Olympic Gold Medalist in Speed Skating Dan Jansen will receive the Symbol of Caring Award, and Paul Schweitzer of the DC-based, national commercial real estate firm Studley, Inc., will receive Margaret L. Hodges Leadership Award. Vincent T. Lombardi II, Coach Lombardi's grandson, will join Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Richard G. Pestell, MD, PhD, in presenting the honors.

Thirty years after winning the gold medal in Grenoble, France, in the 1968 Winter Olympics, Peggy Fleming was diagnosed with breast cancer, an experience she called "another Olympics, a life Olympics." With the same determination, fortitude and grace that gained her a gold medal on the ice, Fleming successfully faced her cancer diagnosis and won again. Since then, she has become a true champion in the fight against breast cancer through public advocacy. Fleming and her husband Greg Jenkins, M.D., own Fleming-Jenkins Vineyards & Winery, which has begun bottling "Victories" Rose for Research, with proceeds benefiting breast cancer research at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Fleming joins a prominent group of former Symbol of Courage recipients, including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong; Olympic gold medalist and world-champion figure skater Scott Hamilton; Yankees manager, Joe Torre; Churchill Downs jockey Patricia (P.J.) Cooksey; and NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

Dan Jansen will receive the 2005 Lombardi Symbol of Caring Award, given to a person who makes extraordinary strides in encouraging cancer research, prevention and treatment through awareness and philanthropy. No one who was watching the 1994 Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway, could ever forget this emotionally powerful moment: with the national anthem of the United States playing and his country s flag rising before him, Jansen stood proudly with his gold medal around his neck. "This is for you, Jane," he said, as he looked up to the sky and saluted. "I love you." Jane, his sister, had died from leukemia six years earlier.

To honor her memory, Jansen created the "Jane Jansen Beres Leukemia Fund," which supports leukemia research and related cancers, as well as educational programs that serve to improve the treatment and quality of life of those affected by the disease. The "Dan Jansen Family Aid Fund," also established by Jansen, supports afflicted individuals and families based on economic need, family situation and special circumstances. The organization also supports various youth programs. Jansen, who is active in the foundation, will also serve as a broadcaster in the upcoming 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Past Symbol of Caring recipients include WUSA-TV Anchor Andrea Roane; NFL Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula; Evelyn Lauder of the Lauder Foundation; the late Katharine Graham of The Washington Post; the late CEO of Hecht's Irwin Zazulia; 1962 Georgetown alumnus Paul Tagliabue and the NFL Charities; and John Jaffe, owner of Manhattan, Jaguar, Lincoln-Mercury of Rockville.

Now in its fifth year, the Gala s Margaret L. Hodges Leadership Award recognizes Paul Schweitzer for the time, energy, leadership and resources he has devoted to the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Schweitzer is executive vice president and co-manager of the suburban Washington office of Studley, Inc., a national commercial real estate firm specializing in tenant representation. In more than 20 years in the Washington real estate market, he has earned a reputation for integrity and leadership in business. Aside from his career, he is involved in many civic activities.

For the past 12 years, Schweitzer has been an ultimate volunteer ambassador for the organization and was a member of the original Friends of Lombardi, a young professionals group that was formed in the early 1990s. As one of the premier fundraisers for Lombardi, he helps create awareness and advocacy from the Washington regional business community on the Center's behalf through events like the Lombardi Gala and the Men's Event for Prostate Cancer.

The Miracles evening, co-chaired by former Gov. and Mrs. Frank Keating of Oklahoma, will begin at 6 p.m. with a silent auction featuring more than 400 items and a cocktail reception in the Exhibit Hall, located on the lower level of the Hilton Washington & Towers at 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW. The awards presentation and dinner will start at 8 p.m. in the International Ballroom, followed by a live auction featuring items such as a new 2006 Lexus RX400H (h), the world's first luxury hybrid, a round-trip to Italy with one week in a private villa in Tuscany for four and an "Extreme Power Dinner." The Silent Auction includes one week for three couples on a 103 mega yacht and a trip for two couples to the wine country of the Northwest United States. The evening will also include dancing to the music of Full Circle and dress is black-tie.

Underwriting of the Gala for the fifth year is courtesy of Comcast. Lexus is the exclusive automotive sponsor including Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria, Lexus of Rockville, Lexus of Silver Spring and Pohanka Lexus of Chantilly. This year they are donating the coveted and in-demand 2006 Lexus RX400h (hybrid) SUV.

The Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of only 38 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington DC area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu. Since the Gala's inception in 1986, 100% of the proceeds from the Lombardi Gala have remained in the Washington community for research, education and treatment programs at Lombardi.

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