John Colby, BA ’71, did not take one single music class while at GW, but millions have heard his songs. With tunes like ESPN’s SportsCenter theme, the music for two Super Bowls, and scores for award-winning documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, Colby has reached a broad audience.

But this might not have happened if it weren’t for some musician friends hanging out around his townhouse during his senior year at GW. Colby was a psychology major and contemplating medical school after college when he started picking up the guitar and piano — instruments he hadn’t played since he was 14.

“It really rekindled something from when I was little,” Colby said.

One Emmy and one Grammy later, people can hum Colby’s songs off the top of their head. The ESPN SportsCenter theme song has earned him particular notoriety, especially after it was the crux of an advertising campaign featuring major athletes humming the last six notes.

“It took on a life of its own after that. Suddenly it became linked to something and it became an iconic melody,” he said.

Since then, he’s left his mark on the sports world through composing and producing music for many high-profile ESPN sporting events and writing the music for one of the most watched events in the world.

“I wrote music for two Super Bowls and that music has been exposed to so many people. It’s great to sit back and see your baby broadcast all over the world.”

Colby traveled back to Foggy Bottom for Alumni Reunion Weekend in late September after reconnecting with some fraternity brothers. And while he may not have taken a music class here, he credits much of his success to his GW education.

“I learned how to work on something, how to organize myself, how to communicate with people,” Colby said. “I can interact with people in the boardroom and then I can go sit with musicians and speak that language. I attribute a lot of that to the broad-based education I got at GW.”

To learn more about John Colby and his music, visit www.colbymusic.com.