SUNY Oneonta Athletics

Pawa, who was inducted posthumously, spent 20 years as a professor of history until his untimely death in 1983 at the age of 52.  During his tenure, he was a champion for students and student athletes serving as a mentor and role model.  He was an esteemed member of the college faculty and would go above and beyond to help students succeed while leaving a legacy of excellence on campus.

When he wasn’t teaching, or advising students, Pawa could be found in the weight room or on the hills around campus jogging.  He was a boxer as a young boy in New York City and this regimen of being in shape carried through into his adult years.  The weight room in the Chase Physical Education building is named in his honor.

Pawa grew up on the lower East Side of the city during the depression where he worked his way through poverty to earn a college degree.  A farm hand, a taxi driver, a truck driver and a deck-hand on an oil tanker were just a few of the manual labor jobs Pawa worked while attending Oneonta and graduate school at Columbia University.

His son Matt, who is a lawyer in Massachusetts, and his grandson, Jay Zachary Pawa, will be accepting the honor on Jay’s behalf.

Link to Personal Reflection (as written by his son Matt Pawa)