Illinois State's Bowman earns CASE V's 2011 Chief Executive Leadership Award
Under Bowman's leadership, Illinois State has transformed into a first-choice Illinois public university, ranking for seven straight years as one of the top 100 public universities in the nation for quality and value, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Academically under Bowman, Illinois State has achieved historic highs in freshman ACT average (24.3), freshman-to-sophomore retention rate (85 percent), and graduation rate (70.4 percent). The university's infrastructure has grown with a $50-million Student Fitness Center, an Alumni Center, numerous classroom buildings renovations, and six residence halls remodels. Bowman initiated the university's first-ever public/private student housing partnership, resulting in a 900-bed, privately-owned, student apartment complex constructed on university-owned land. Bowman's academic career started after he completed a bachelor's degree in speech pathology from Augustana College, and a master's in speech-language pathology from Eastern Illinois University. He chose the University of Illinois-Urbana for his graduate work, completing a doctorate in speech and hearing science. Bowman was a speech pathologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville before joining Illinois State in 1978 as a faculty member in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. He became departmental chair in 1994 and held the position for eight years. He simultaneously served as director of the Down Syndrome Speech-Language Clinic and continued to teach each semester. Under Bowman's leadership the department was awarded accreditation by the Council Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Faculty and staff scholarly productivity doubled, the master's program rose in prestige to its current ranking as No. 1 in Illinois, and a doctoral program in audiology was added during Bowman's presidency. During 2002-03, Bowman was asked to serve as interim provost. He then served as interim president from June 2003 until being named president in March 2004. Shortly after assuming the presidency, Bowman instituted a salary enhancement plan to close the gap with peer institution salaries in order to recruit and retain stellar faculty and staff. Since 2005, more than $3.7 million has gone into the initiative, on top of annual merit-based salary increases, even though Illinois State has seen a major downward shift in state appropriations for higher education. Privately raised funds and grant funding have also increased dramatically. An avid outdoorsman, Bowman enjoys mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, golf, and running five miles daily. His wife, Linda (Althoff), completed undergraduate and master's degrees at Illinois State. They have two daughters: Laura, an Illinois State University graduate, and Natalie, a student at UW-Madison. The CASE V Chief Executive Leadership AwardEstablished in 1999, the Chief Executive Leadership Award recognizes the head of a CASE V institution for outstanding leadership and service in support of education. |
C. Alvin "Al" Bowman became Illinois State University's 17th president March 1, 2004. He served for 26 years at the university prior to the appointment, including a year as interim president.