Bowen Distinguished Career Award

The Howard R. Bowen Distinguished Career Award will be presented to an ASHE Member(s) in recognition of a professional life devoted in substantial part to the study of higher education and a career that has significantly advanced the field through extraordinary scholarship, leadership, and service. The award will be presented to members who are near or at the time of retirement.

About Dr. Bowen

Howard R. Bowen (1908-1989) was R. Stanton Avery Professor of Economics and Education at The Claremont Graduate University. A scholar of economics, an authority on the economics of higher education, and a leader in American higher education, he received numerous awards. These included the 1985 Distinguished Service to Education Award of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), considered to be the top recognition award in the field of higher education, and both the Distinguished Research Award and the Distinguished Career Award of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

When he joined the Graduate School Faculty in Economics in 1969, Bowen brought with him a remarkable record of service in government, business, and university teaching and administration. He was chief economist of the Joint Congressional Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation from 1944 to 1945 and economist for the Irving Trust Company, a Wall Street bank, from 1945 to 1947. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed him to head a review of the U.S. aid program in Thailand and to serve on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. In 1964, President Johnson named him chair of the National Committee on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress.

Bowen taught economics at the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois, and Williams College. He was president of Grinnell College from 1955 to 1964 and of the University of Iowa from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, Bowen became president and then chancellor of Claremont University Center, serving four years in that capacity, and then returned to the classroom in 1974. In 1983, his book, The State of the Nation and the Agenda for Higher Education, received the Ness Book Award, given annually to the book judged to be the most significant contribution to studies on liberal education published during the preceding year. American Professors: A National Resource Imperiled, co-authored with CGU Professor Jack Schuster, was published in 1986 and also received the Ness Book Award. His fourteenth book, Academic Recollections (1988), recounts many aspects of his extraordinary career.

In tribute to Howard Bowen following his death, Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California, described Bowen as “the moral mentor for all of us” and “the Chief Justice of American Higher Education.” His many friends in Claremont concur.

Nomination Evaluation Criteria

When reviewing nominations, the awards committee will make decisions based on the following preferred and demonstrated attributes:

1. A robust research and publication record

2. Impact on the field of higher education (scholarship and/or practice through scholarship)

3. Leadership of a research center, organization, institution, and/or association

4. Teaching and mentoring

5. Service to the field of higher education at, or near, the time of the individual's retirement.

Awards Timeline

• Early May: Awards Nominations Open

• June 30, 2025, 12:00pm Mountain/Denver Time: Awards Nominations close

• July-September: Committee review of nominations

• Late September: Notification to nominators of committee decisions

• Mid-October: Association-wide announcement of recipients

• November: Awards Ceremony during ASHE 2025 Annual Conference

Due to the number of submissions and the review process, no late submissions will be accepted; as such, nominators are encouraged to submit their nominations well in advance of this deadline. 

Nomination Requirements

To submit a nomination, you will need:

• Your ASHE website log-in credentials (as nominee).

• The name of your nominee(s) as they have it listed with ASHE to be able to look them up in the nominations system.

• The Nominee's CV to be uploaded as a PDF (for individual nominations)

• A nomination statement up to 750 words that demonstrates the nominee's match to the award evaluation criteria. This should not be a nomination or support letter, but a summary of the nominee's qualifications for this specific award.

• 2-3 letters of support. For upload into the nomination form, these should be combined into one document as a PDF.

Due to the increased number of nominations received in recent years, each nominee will be limited to one nomination. In the event multiple nominations are submitted, the committee chair will notify the coordinating nominators requesting they consolidate their nominations.

Questions about the award process can be sent to awards@ashe.ws.

Conflicts of Interest

ASHE's Conflict of Interest Policy aims to ensure the integrity of the process. In establishing this policy, the Association sets forth circumstances that require ASHE members to refrain or recuse themselves from participation and circumstances where ASHE members need to consider whether the nature of their relationship creates the actuality or appearance of a conflict. 

To avoid conflicts of interests, current members of the Board of Directors, respective Council Executive Committees, and/or respective awards committees are ineligible to be part of the awards process, including nominating colleagues, being nominated, and writing letters of support.

Past Recipients