A pioneer in her playing days and one of the program’s most influential alumnae, Helen Doyle Yeager will forever resonate with Columbia and Barnard women’s basketball.

Yeager came to Morningside Heights in 1981 to attend Barnard College. Ironically, the future basketball legend only became interested in playing the sport collegiately after finding out Barnard did not have a softball program, which was her true passion in high school. Regardless of the circumstances, she immediately made an impact. 

As a freshman, Yeager was a starting forward. She scored a team-leading 300 points, averaging 15 per game to go with 7.8 rebounds despite playing as an undersized 5-8 center. As a sophomore, she transitioned to the role of a high post forward, averaging 10.6 points on her way to finishing with 191. 

The Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was founded Yeager’s junior year with Yeager serving as the female student representative on the inaugural committee. The native of La Jolla, California also has the distinct honor of being the first team captain under the Columbia-Barnard title. That year, she tallied 217 points, averaging 11 per game, including a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds against Smith in the Seven Sisters Invitational. Yeager went on to be name to the Seven Sisters All-Tournament Team.

Yeager was again asked to play a different role as a senior in 1984-85. With the program getting set to make the transition to NCAA Div. I in the coming years, the Lions had a much-improved team and many top freshmen. Therefore, the two-year team captain again switched positions on the floor and assumed the role of a leader for the young Lions. She didn’t score as much but still finished her four-year career with a program-record 899 points, breaking Nora Beck’s previous mark of 834. Doyle also captained the Lions to an appearance at the New York State Championship, highlighted by a 71-66 win over Hartwick.

You can still find Helen Doyle listed in the Columbia record books, currently ranking ninth all-time in field goals made (392), ninth in attempts (972) and 12th in career rebounds (536).

A key female representative on the Athletics Leadership Committee, and a consistent member of The Women's Leadership Council, Yeager remains a major supporter of the women's basketball program and Columbia Athletics. She was also an early donor and influential part to the construction of The Campbell Sports Center, which opened in 2012. Yeager has served as chair of the Alumnae Advisory Board for Women’s Basketball for over a decade, spearheading an increase in fundraising and outreach.

Twenty-five years after serving as the female student representative for the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium, she was honored as one of the 25 most influential women in the Consortium's history during the year-long Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium Silver Anniversary Celebration in 2008.

Yeager retired in 2018 after most recently serving as the managing director at MUFG, the leading financial services institution in Japan, and the world's fifth largest bank. She managed the Institutional Client Group for the Americas and is a senior relationship manager at MUFG Securities. Yeager spent over 25 years in the securities industry, working in senior management at several firms, including Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. She retired as the Managing Director of the Investment Grade Credit Sales Group at Deutsche Bank.

A 1985 graduate of Barnard College, Yeager also earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Helen and her husband Scott have four children: Michael, Beth, Hannah and Ryan.

Yeager currently serves on the Board of Citius Baseball, a not-for-profit inner-city baseball program based in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. Citius Baseball helps develop and prepare inner city and underprivileged kids, through high-level training and SAT Prep, for college and/or professional baseball.