Paul Madison has been a part of Western Athletics since entering the school as a freshman in the fall of 1966. He was the director of sports information for 48 years (five as student, three on part-time basis and 40 full-time), and since retiring in the fall of 2015 has served in a volunteer role as the school's athletics historian.
 
"Paul Madison is synonymous with Western Athletics," said Card. "For more than half a century, Paul has served our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and the university as a whole. He is the bridge to our past, and continues to serve our program and institution to this day.
 
I can't think of a more deserving person to be inducted into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame."
 
Madison, 73, was a 2011 inductee into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) (now College Sports Communicators) Hall of Fame, one of only two members from the state of Washington.
 
Madison also received the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, the WWU Lynda Goodrich Legacy Award in 2015, the WWU President's Exceptional Effort Award in 2010, and in 1993 the Ike Pearson Award, given annually by the NAIA-Sports Information Directors Association to honor outstanding contributions to the profession.
 
"It is a great privilege and an absolute joy to be a part of Western Athletics," said Madison. "To be around the student-athletes and staff is totally energizing and makes every day a blessing."
 
Two of Madison's top projects as Athletics Historian at Western are overseeing its Athletics Hall of Fame as well as the Carver Memories section of its athletics website. The school's Hall of Fame ceremony has become a nearly annual event with inductions in 44 of the past 49 years. Carver Memories is a compilation of stories about the school's athletics history as seen through recollections of various teams, student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators.
 
During his sports information career at Western, Madison received 43 CoSIDA and NAIA publications awards; including eight Best in the Nation. He also served five years as publicity director for the Evergreen Conference, three as publicist for the Northwest Women's Basketball League, and one as communications director for the Washington Intercollegiate Basketball Association.

Madison served as chair of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Committee for nine years (2001-10). He also served one year (2000-01) as College Division Representative (West Region) on the CoSIDA Board of Directors Association and two terms as Area I Representative on the Executive Committee of the NAIA-SIDA.
 
Madison obtained his bachelor's degree in journalism at Western in 1971, graduating with the school's first class in that discipline.
 
A 1966 graduate of Ferndale High School, Madison received the Rodstrom Scholarship from the Puget Sound Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association in 1969.
 
Madison and his wife Geri Forsberg, who has a doctorate in media ecology from New York University and is a senior instructor in the English department at WWU, have one grown son Aaron, who graduated from Western in June 2019. Aaron and his wife Honoka, also a WWU graduate, live in Tokyo.
  

Three Cheers for Paul!

If you want to make a difference for WWU Athletics like Paul, please give to the scholarship in his honor. 

Thank you to the donors who have helped establish the fund!