Over the next few weeks, GoColumbiaLions.com will take a look at the teams, student-athletes, coaches and staff members set to be inducted in the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame this October. Our next installment features a long-time sports information director and a decorated administrator and coach.

Kevin DeMarrais '64CC

Kevin DeMarrais' career path began as an undergrad at Columbia, starting as a work-study employee of the the sports information office. He also wrote for Spectator and played on the lightweight football team.

In 1965, he began his 19-year tenure, with a two-year hiatus while serving in the Army from 1966-68, as Director of Sports Information at his alma mater. DeMarrais earned numerous awards promoting Columbia's teams, including the National Award for Editorial Excellence for the Best College Football Program/Magazine six times and another for Outstanding Special Project for the Football Centennial Promotion in 1971.

DeMarrais covered and promoted some of the premiere teams and student-athletes in Columbia's history, including the 1968 Ivy League men's basketball championship squad and the 1979 men's soccer team that reached the NCAA title game. He also was a mentor to fellow Columbia Athletics Hall of Famer, Bill Steinman.

In addition to his duties at Columbia, DeMarrais served in a number of other sports capacities and was cited often for his work. DeMarrais was a member of the New York Jets statistical staff and worked on the New York Cosmos press box staff. He was the publicity coordinator for the Ivy League from 1978-84, served three terms as chairman of the League's Director of Sports Information, and is a former president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors. In 1974, DeMarrais received the ECAC Service Bureau Cooperation Award for his contributions to the ECAC. Additionally, he worked for the United States Olympic Committee from 1981-84.

He left his post in April 1984 to become senior vice president at Sports Information Data Base.  In 1986, he became a sportswriter for The Record and, after a stretch with Porter Novelli public relations, joined the business staff of the paper in 1992. DeMarrais continued for a decade to write a boating column for the sports section.

He still continues to be an avid supporter of the athletics program and contributes feature content to the Columbia football game day program.

Paul Fernandes

In a career that spanned 31 years, Fernandes served as Columbia's head baseball coach for 23 seasons, while also fulfilling the duties as the Ivy League school's associate athletics director for intercollegiate sports programs.

In 1977, Fernandes joined Columbia University as the associate athletic director and was named head baseball coach in 1978.

Over his coaching career, Fernandes guided the baseball team to 493 victories from 1978-98 and 2003-05. During that time, he coached 24 players who advanced to the professional leagues, including three major leaguers — the Minnesota Twins' Gene Larkin who had the game-winning hit in the 1991 World Series, National League pitcher Frank Seminara and outfielder Fernando Perez of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Fernandes coached 28 All-Ivy League first team players, a trio of Ivy League Pitchers of the Year, and an Ivy League Player of the Year. In 1987, the Lions won a then program record 28 games and led the nation with its 2.12 earned-run average. In 1993, Columbia won the Ivy League Gehrig Division title.

Fernandes was a member of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee from 1997-2001. He also served as an NCAA representative at its NCAA Division I post-season baseball regional and super regional competitions across the nation.

Concurrent with his position as head baseball coach, Fernandes also served as an associate athletics director for intercollegiate sports programs at Columbia. In this capacity, he was responsible for the day-to-day administration of Columbia's most visible sports programs, including football and men's basketball.

In 2001, the All-America Football Committee named Fernandes as its Outstanding Associate Athletics Director. Within his community, he co-founded and co-directed the Coaches 3 Youth Baseball Camp from 1977-80 and the Paul Fernandes Baseball Camp from 1990-2005. The latter was the first at the university to serve youth in the Bronx, Manhattan and Harlem.

Following his retirement from Columbia University in 2008, he was Director of Championships and Scheduling for the Ivy League Office from 2008-2010. Fernandes is also a member of the C.W Post College Baseball Hall and SUNY Corland Athletics Hall of Fame.