Outstanding Alumni - 2007
Paul Boswell
Bemidji State University Graduate 1981
Paul Boswell graduated from Bemidji State University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications. He received a Master's degree in educational leadership from North Dakota State University in 1998. Paul spent the first 14 years of his professional career as a writer and editor of community newspapers, first for the Grant County Herald in Elbow Lake, MN and then with the Daily Journal in International Falls. In 1995, Paul moved from newspaper work into the arena of higher education. He served first as the Teaching Support Center Coordinator within the School of Education and then as the Public Information Specialist for the College of Business Administration, both at North Dakota State. Paul then spent eight years as the Communication Coordinator and Trice Editor at Tri-College University in Fargo. He returned to NDSU in 1998 to serve as the Director of Multicultural Student Services for six years and then moved to the University of North Dakota where he was the director of the Native Media Center until he was killed in an auto accident in 2006. Paul spent much of his professional career working against racism and promoting an appreciation of diversity. While at NDSU, he was a member of the President's Diversity Council, the Training Our Campuses Against Racism anti-racism team and was a representative to the North Dakota University System Diversity Council. He also advised several student organizations that represented students of color. At UND, he served as the editor for the Red Nation News online magazine, was an advisor to BRIDGES (Building Roads Into Diverse Groups Empowering Students) and the UND Indian Association who hosted the annual contest Wicipi. Paul received numerous awards during his career, including five Better Newspaper Contest awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association. He was inducted into the Tapestry of Diverse Talents at NDSU, and he was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for the service to the State of North Dakota. Paul's mother, Maxine Boswell is also a BSU alum. Paul was an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and had two children, Ashley and Ryan.