User:Pgabriels/Robert S. Bowman

Robert S. Bowman (12 June 1950 - 6 June 2009) was a geochemist and contaminant hydrogeologist, known for his work on zeolites at New Mexico Tech.

Early Life
Dr. Bowman was born June 12, 1950, in Detroit to Ernest and Lois (Foote) Bowman. He is survived by his wife, Karen Bailey-Bowman, of their home in Lemitar; his son, Danny; two brothers, Donald and Douglas Bowman, both of Michigan; and a sister, Barbara Hobson of Georgia.

Academic Career
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology: Professor of Hydrology, 1995-2009 Chairman, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Science, 2005-2008 Director of Hydrology Program, 1995-2004 Associate Professor of Hydrology, 1991-1994 Assistant Professor of Hydrology, 1987-1991 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Zürich: Visiting Professor, 1997 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: Soil Scientist, 1982-1987 New Mexico State Univ., Agronomy Dept: Graduate Research Assistant, 1977-1982 American Exploration and Mining, Albuquerque, NM: Chemist, 1977 Medi-Physics, Inc., Emeryville, CA: Research Chemist, 1972-1976 Professional Organizations: American Chemical

Professional Contributions
Jacob Solution Leaky Aquifers

Personal Life
The Michigan native headed west in 1968, settling in at the University of California at Berkeley which he, a National Merit Scholar, had chosen as an alternative to an in-state school.

In a physics laboratory in Berkeley, he met his future wife, Karen Bailey, his eventual life partner – who was always late to class. So what attracted the flame-haired coed to the tall Midwesterner?

“He was good-looking,” she said. “Tall, with long, blonde hair.”

And so they teamed up, the radio-pharmaceutical chemist and the teacher, off on life’s journey, an adventure that ultimately led them to New Mexico.

His was a curious life, basically on his own in his early teens, left to fill in the domestic gaps that his own life lacked.

Nothing was ever given to him, Karen said. When only 14, he was obligated to assist with the financial support of his family, and did so willingly and with the pragmatism that everyone who knew Rob recognized so well. He was able to talk to anyone, never arrogant, always cordial.

“He gave me the life he never had,” said Danny.

Rob and Karen worked in the Bay Area for a while living like students and saving money for a nine-month vacation through Europe. The couple returned stateside and resettled in the Bay Area where Karen earned a teaching certificate and Rob worked as a chemist.

For a profile written in 2008, Bowman had said, “We both felt we wanted to live in a less urban environment. I loved to work in chemistry, but grew tired of spending my days in a windowless lab.”

So the Bowman-Bailey duo quit their jobs and left on a great adventure.

“We sold off everything, bought a Volkswagen bus and took off on a three-month tour,” he had said. “We liked New Mexico and settled in Santa Fe, where I worked in construction for a year and Karen did odd jobs.”

The couple experienced the City Different in a style suited to the ‘70s – Karen spent a stint with the Santa Fe New Mexican and put her teaching skills to use; Rob worked as a janitor.

“It was fun, and we spent all of our savings in Santa Fe, but I missed science and being outside part of the time,” Rob had said.

He had a contact in the then-Agronomy Department at New Mexico State University, and in 1977 the couple headed south to Las Cruces. Bowman left NMSU in 1982 with a Ph.D. in soil chemistry. After a short stint in Phoenix, Bowman accepted a professorship at New Mexico Tech in 1987.