Bowman, George A.

George Arvene Bowman was born May 11, 1893, in Galion, Ohio. Due to the death of his father and illness of his mother, Bowman was raised by his grandfather in Edison, Ohio. He finished high school in 1911 and received a certificate which permitted him to teach elementary school in Ohio for one year. In September 1911, he began teaching at the one-room Gardner School. He then worked for the Edison School system from 1912 to 1914. Here he held the successive positions of teacher, principal and superintendent. In 1914, Bowman became a full-time student at the Adelbert College where he received his A.B. degree in 1917. After his service in the Navy in World War I, Bowman became Director of Athletics at Zanesville. From 1921 to 1923, he was principal of Zanesville High School. He married Edith Graser Duncan on July 11, 1923, and they moved to Chillicothe the next day, where he served as Superintentent until 1928. While Superintendent of the Marion Schools (1929-1934), he earned the A.M. degree in 1931 from Columbia University. Bowman also received numerous honorary degrees. From 1934 to 1941 he was Superintendent of Lakeview Schools and then moved to become Superintendent of the Youngstown schools from 1941 to 1944. In 1944, Bowman was invited to become the fifth President of Kent State University where he remained from July 1, 1944 to July 1, 1963. At the time of his retirement he was named President Emeritus and resided in Kent until his death on May 7, 1976.