Cronkite Professor Paola Boivin to be inducted into Arizona Sports Hall of Fame

Paola Boivin, the award-winning sports columnist who worked for The Arizona Republic for more than 20 years and now teaches at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is being inducted to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame today.

Boivin is the first female journalist to be a part of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, which recognizes significant contributions to the Arizona athletic community. She joins Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, former Arizona Coyotes forward Shane Doan, former Phoenix Suns guard Dan Majerle and ASU wrestler Anthony Robles in the 2017 class.

This year’s class is being honored at the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort.

“I am floored, especially to be inducted with a group of sports figures that have had such a positive impact on sports in Arizona,” said Boivin, who joined the Cronkite School this year to teach in the expanding sports journalism program.

At The Arizona Republic, Boivin served as one of the main sports columnists. She also appeared weekly on sports radio, did extensive reporting for 12 News, and engaged audiences on social media. She joined the Republic in 1994. Before becoming a regular columnist, she covered sports beats, including ASU football and basketball.

She joined the Cronkite faculty as a professor of practice at a time of significant growth and interest in sports media. The school launched sports journalism degree programs on the master’s and bachelor’s levels in 2015 and also runs summer sports journalism camps for high school students.

“This will be a year I never forgot, from joining Cronkite — a place that so profoundly respects the core principles of journalism — to being honored in the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame,” she said. “Now if I can only learn how to dunk, I will have achieved my life goals.”

Boivin, a graduate of the University of Illinois, was a sports talk show host at KMPC radio in Los Angeles and a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News before joining The Arizona Republic. Earlier in her career she was a sports editor at the Camarillo (California) Daily News.

She has won numerous awards from Associated Press Sports Editors and National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. She also served as president of the Association for Women in Sports Media in 2001.

“For more than two decades, Paola Boivin has been a tremendous journalist and a trailblazer for women in sports journalism,” said Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan. “To be inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame is an amazing accomplishment and a well-deserved honor.”

The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, operated by the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission, honors athletes, coaches, administrators and others who have made significant contributions to Arizona sports. The ASEC is one of the oldest sports commissions in the nation, with the goal of making Arizona the country’s number one sports destination. 

“We congratulate each new Arizona Sports Hall of Fame member,” ASEC Executive Director Nikki Balich-Cammarata said. “This class reflects Arizona's great diversity — and each of them has played a role in our state's memorable sports history.”