Representing the United States in the Pan American Fencing Competition, Tim Morehouse '00 came within one point of taking the gold medal last Thursday. However, he lost to Joseph Polossifakis 15-14 in a hard-fought match.

"I'm 33, and this was my first Pan American Games, so it would have been great to take the gold, but I'm just proud to be here," Morehouse told usfencing.org. "Now I'm looking forward to fencing with the Olympic team. What a joy to represent your country individually and then with a team."

Thursday marked Morehouse's first time competing at the individual level in the Pan American Games, where he notched a silver medal. In the team competition last Saturday, he helped the United States to a gold medal.

Morehouse, a three-time All-American and 2000 NCAA Fencer of the Year, is the first-ever Brandeis graduate to go to the Olympics. He earned a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. He is also a four-time Pan American team champion (2005-09), a team gold medalist (2010) and a national team champion (2004).

He stated that these accomplishments are due to his experience at Brandeis.

"I really wasn't highly recruited going into college," said Morehouse.

"Coach [Bill] Shipman saw my potential and really helped me set high goals for myself as well as develop the confidence to excel at the professional level."

In addition to his fencing achievements, Morehouse is a former public school teacher. He built upon this passion since 2000 when he was a member of Teach for America. He is also creating a foundation to spread fencing to high-risk neighborhoods.

"I am very excited to begin work for my new foundation, Fencing and the Schools, which has a goal of bringing fencing to disadvantaged communities in rural and urban areas," said Morehouse.

"This allows me to combine my two main passions of education and fencing."

In 1999, Morehouse led Brandeis to a No. 2 ranking among Division III teams. As a senior captain, he led the Judges to a No.1 Division-III ranking in 2000 and a 10th-place national ranking among Division I teams. That year, he received the Charles-Napoli Scholar Award, awarded to the top student-athlete at Brandeis.

He graduated from Brandeis with a degree in History and received a Master ‘s in Education from Pace University in 2003. He was inducted to the Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.