John Gabbert Bowman

{{short description|American poet (1877–1962)}} {{infobox officeholder |name=John Gabbert Bowman |image=John Gabbert Bowman.jpg |caption=Bowman {{circa|1935}} |office=10th Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh |term_start=1921 |term_end=1945 |predecessor=Samuel McCormick |successor=Rufus Fitzgerald |office2=9th President of the University of Iowa |term_start2=1911 |term_end2=1914 |predecessor2=George Edwin MacLean |successor2=Thomas Huston Macbride |birth_date={{birth date|1877|5|18}} |birth_place=Davenport, Iowa, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1962|12|2|1877|5|18}} |death_place=Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S. |spouse=Florence Ridgway Berry |children=2 |education=University of Iowa (BA, MA, DLitt) |occupation=Poet }} '''John Gabbert Bowman''' (May 18, 1877 – December 2, 1962) was the tenth Chancellor (1921–1945) of the University of Pittsburgh and the ninth President (1911–1914) of the University of Iowa.

He is best known for initiating and completing the 42-story Cathedral of Learning, the centerpiece of Pitt's campus, over the objections of many faculty and community members. At the time, it was the tallest educational structure in the world. He also established the University of Pittsburgh Press and oversaw the institution of controversial athletic policies that resulted in the resignation in popular head football coach Jock Sutherland.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Boot for Bowman | journal = Time | date = 1939-10-02 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,789020,00.html?promoid=googlep | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121024165121/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,789020,00.html?promoid=googlep | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 24, 2012 | access-date = 2008-06-23}}</ref>

==Early life== Bowman was born in Davenport, Iowa. He married Florence Ridgway Berry and they had two children.

He also worked as a journalist in Iowa and Illinois, taught in a one-room rural Iowa school and at Columbia University.<ref name="Ohles1">{{cite book|last1=Ohles|first1=Frederik|last2=Ohles|first2=Shirley M.|last3=Ramsay|first3=John G.|title=Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators|date=1997|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|isbn=0313291330|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000ohle/page/36 36]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000ohle/page/36}}</ref> From Columbia, he worked at the newly founded Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

==Career==

In 1915, he became the founding director of the American College of Surgeons, where he served until 1921.

Bowman was the first University of Iowa alumnus to become its President, as well as the school's first Iowa-born chief administrator. He earned the B.A. degree in 1899, the M.A. in 1904,<ref name="Ohles1"/> and the Litt.D. in 1934. He became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity as an undergraduate.

He arrived on campus in 1921.<ref>Kidney, Walter C. ''Oakland''. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005, p. 87, {{ISBN|0738538671}}</ref> Bowman resigned as chancellor from the University of Pittsburgh in 1945. The trustees named him President Honorarius and awarded him an honorary doctorate of laws.<ref name="Geiger">{{cite book|last1=Geiger|first1=Roger L.|title=Iconic Leaders in Higher Education|date=2011|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick, NJ|isbn=978-1412846394|page=154}}</ref>

==Death and legacy== He died at age 85 on December 2, 1962, in Bedford, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Deaths|journal=Hospitals|volume=37|page=98|publisher=American Hospital Association|issn=0018-5973|oclc=1752305}}</ref><ref name="Obit2">{{cite journal|title=[obit]|journal=College and University Business|date=1963|volume=34|page=14|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=Chicago|issn=0010-0900|oclc=1564045}}</ref>

He is mentioned in the book, ''Jewels in Your Crown: Mining the Treasures Within''.<ref>Fowler, Craig. Jewels in Your Crown: Mining the Treasures Within. 2009, p. 68, ISBN 9781440191558</ref>

==Books== * ''The World That Was'', nonfiction (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1947). * ''Nationality Rooms of the University of Pittsburgh'', with Ruth Crawford Mitchell and Andrey Avinoff, nonfiction (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1947). * ''Happy All Day Through'', poetry (Chicago: P.F. Volland Company, 1917).

==Location of his papers== * The [http://collguides.lib.uiowa.edu/?RG05.0001.07 John G. Bowman Papers] are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives. * The Chancellor Bowman Administrative Files are housed at the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

==References==

===Bibliography=== *{{cite book | author=Alberts, Robert C. | title=Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787-1987 | location=Pittsburgh | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press | year=1987 | isbn=0-8229-1150-7}} *{{cite book|last1=Geiger|first1=Roger L.|title=Iconic Leaders in Higher Education|date=2011|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick, NJ|isbn=978-1412846394}} *{{cite book|last1=Kidney|first= Walter C.|title=Oakland|location= Charleston, SC|publisher= Arcadia|date= 2005|isbn= 0738538671}} *{{cite book|last1=Ohles|first1=Frederik|last2=Ohles|first2=Shirley M.|last3=Ramsay|first3=John G.|title=Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators|date=1997|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|isbn=0313291330|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000ohle}}

{{S-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | title=President of the University of Iowa | before=George Edwin MacLean | after=Thomas Huston Macbride | years= 1911–1914 }} {{succession box | before = Samuel McCormick | title = University of Pittsburgh Chancellor | years = 1921–1945 | after = Rufus Fitzgerald}} {{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, John Gabbert}} Category:1877 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Chancellors of the University of Pittsburgh Category:Writers from Davenport, Iowa Category:University of Iowa alumni Category:Presidents of the University of Iowa Category:American male poets