Howard Bowen
Howard Bowen made his mark as an economist and a college president, including serving at University of Iowa during the turbulent Vietnam years from 1964 to 1969.
Bowen, originally from Spokane, Wash., bounced back and forth from UI to a number of other universities, government and private sector jobs across the country, according to the Papers of Howard R. Bowen, which is part of UI Libraries Special Collections and University Archives.
He earned his M.A. in 1933 and his Ph.D. in 1935 from UI and was part of the UI College of Commerce faculty from 1935 until 1942, according to the papers.
During his time as president, he increased enrollment, expanded campus facilities and budget and he convinced the Legislature and governor to change the name of the university from State University of Iowa to University of Iowa, according to “Education Encyclopedia — State University.”
During his career, Bowen wrote extensively about the economics of higher education and its financial and non-financial returns, according to the encyclopedia.
He argued that higher education should not be based on profit. Instead, he claimed that higher education should focus on increasing the quality of students’ educational experience. Higher education benefited society most not in dollars and cents but by nurturing emotional development, citizenship and equality, he argued.
He stressed the importance of federal and private funding, which had not previously been emphasized, and focused much of his time planning for expansion of the university.
Bowen convinced the Board of Regents to hold an architectural retreat, and the outcome enabled Regents’ universities to use national architects in cooperation with Iowa architects. Future building at UI reflected some of the most outstanding architects of the era.
Bowen and his wife, Lois, had two children, and he died Dec. 22, 1989, at age 81.