Robert Lewis, who served in his role in sports information since arriving at Pasadena City College in 1991, is retiring from his full-time staff position effective at the end of this month. His work covering Lancers Athletics spanned parts of four decades.
“I am most proud of my work in promoting student-athletes at a college level that doesn’t get enough publicity,” Lewis said. “The ability to shape the education and athletics path for so many has been very rewarding.”
Among his many SID hats, Lewis was public address announcer for many of the Lancers sports events, including football, basketball, women’s volleyball and aquatics. He worked several state championship events hosted by PCC including women’s volleyball, swimming and diving, water polo, and women’s badminton.
Lewis adjusted to many changes in the industry over the years, including transitioning to electronic advancements in the field. In 2005, the athletics pages he created were housed at PCC’s pasadena.edu. Then in 2016, Lewis helped launch PCC’s first official stand-alone athletics website–pcclancers.com.
In addition, he added social media to his repertoire with Twitter (X) and Instagram sites for Lancers Athletics to keep up with the growing electronic trends in the industry.
In 1999, Lewis chronicled the history of PCC athletics as part of a PCC history book created to commemorate the college’s then 75th Anniversary.
He then served as Interim Public Relations Director for PCC in 2001-2002 and was a staff member as part of that area (since renamed Strategic Communications & Marketing) until finally moved to Kinesiology, Health & Athletics in 2013.
Lewis’ work extended to serving as chairman of the PCC Sports Hall of Fame. Besides being the event planner, he served as selection committee coordinator, nominee researcher, and general historian for athletics.
In May after serving as master of ceremonies for the well-attended 2026 Pasadena City College Sports Hall of Fame event at Sexson Auditorium, Lewis himself was entered into the prestigious HOF as the first non-athlete or coach ever inducted.
Lewis is especially proud of helping PCC student-athletes receive more than $300,000 over the past 20 years in various scholarships offered by PCC through the Elizabeth Jensen fund and other scholarships geared toward Lancers student-athletes.
He was honored as one of three finalists nominated for the 2018 PCC Risser Award for Outstanding Support for Education. In 2023, his writing work was recognized as a finalist for Best Online Sports Story by the Los Angeles Press Club
Lewis’ PCC media guides won a bevy of first place awards from the Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO). He helped run several seminars at CCPRO conferences with other sports information professionals in promoting the need for SIDs at California Community College campuses.
In 2008, Lewis was honored with the prestigious Brass Top Award for career achievement by the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA). He is one of the founding fathers of the CCCSIA and is a long-time executive board member and treasurer, regularly participating in the association’s meetings and affairs.
His replacement will be announced on this website the week of June 15.
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