Steve Gladstone

Stephen C. Gladstone is an American rowing coach and former college athletics administrator. He was the head coach for the men's heavyweight crew team at Yale University from 2010-2023 and was the team's assistant coach from in 2024. Previously, Gladstone coached at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also served as athletic director.

Gladstone graduated from Kent School in 1960 where he began his rowing career. He then attended Syracuse University where he continued to row and graduated with a bachelor's degree in American literature. He is the son of Henry Gladstone, a renowned radio announcer in the 1950s and 1960s in New York City. He is married to Daria Gladstone, and has three children, Ethan Gladstone, Wendell Gladstone, and Sonya Gladstone.

Gladstone began coaching in 1966, directing the Princeton University freshmen to a pair of silver medals at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta, also known as the IRA. Gladstone then took over as varsity lightweight coach at Harvard in 1970. His Harvard crews were undefeated for four straight seasons. They won four straight Eastern Sprints championships and, in 1971, the Thames Challenge Cup and Wyfold Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

In 1973, he was appointed as head coach of the Cal varsity crew team. He also coached the 1973 U.S. National team. During his tenure at Cal from 1973 to 1980, Gladstone's Bears had three undefeated dual-race seasons, an IRA title in 1976, yet only one Pac-10 championship in 1979.

Gladstone retired after the 1980 season and coached the Cal Alumni for one race in 1981—winning the San Diego Crew Classic. He then decided to coach rowing again and was approached by Brown University.

Gladstone coached Brown from 1982 to 1994. At Brown, Gladstone crews amassed four Eastern Sprints championships, five IRA championships and two National Collegiate Rowing Championship titles. In both 1993 and '94, the Brown varsity crew completed the "triple crown" with victories in each of these regattas – a feat that had never before been accomplished. In Gladstone's final season at Brown, the men's crew went undefeated as a program at all levels of competition. Many of Gladstone's athletes at Brown became members of the national teams for the US and for other countries. Following the 1994 season, Gladstone retired from coaching rowing for the second time.

Upon retiring, Gladstone helped found Resolute Racing Shells, where he was president and director of marketing. However, Gladstone returned to coaching crew at Cal beginning with the 1997 season.

In his first two years back, his varsity squads finished third at the IRA. In 1999, Gladstone's varsity boat ended Cal's 23-year IRA championship drought. Cal then went on to capture four straight IRA varsity titles from 1999 through 2002 and was undefeated for three straight years. His assistant coach in charge of the freshman squad at this time was rowing coach Craig Amerkhanian (who later went on to a career at Stanford University). The majority of Gladstone and Amerkhanian's oarsmen from those years were members of the national team for either the USA or some other country.