Oberlin College Athletics

Bonnie DeSimone Ford earned a B.A. in Government and got her start in journalism as Sports Director at WOBC. A bench-warming varsity basketball player and lesser talent on the coed Ultimate Frisbee team, she returned to campus several times after graduation to announce swim meets, including the 1981 Division III men's national championships. 
 
Ford provided color commentary for University of Michigan men's basketball games at WUOM-FM in her first professional role. She covered education and local politics at the Ann Arbor News and was a criminal justice beat writer at the Detroit News before returning to sports. At the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Chicago Tribune, and ESPN.com, she dug into legal and cultural aspects of sport and the forces that shape athletes at all levels. Ford specialized in international sports and reported from the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, men's and women's soccer World Cups, tennis Grand Slam events, and 14 editions of the Tour de France. She is the co-author of Choosing to Run, a New York Times best-selling memoir by 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden.
 
A former Alumni Magazine Committee and Heisman Club Board member, Ford has taken great pleasure in staying in touch with Oberlin student-athletes and coaches.