Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA.
1980.12
Portrait of John Garbert Bowman
1939 (Date created)
Oil
Painting
Paintings
32.3622 in W
x
40.5512 in H
(Object)
39.25 in W x 47.75 in H (Frame)
39.25 in W x 47.75 in H (Frame)
American
John Garbert Bowman was Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh from 1921-1945. During his tenure the buildings for which the University is most famous for; including the Cathedral of Learning, Heinz Memorial Chapel, and the Stephen Foster Memorial were built. Bowman led the University through the Depression and World War II.
John G. Bowman was Chancellor from 1921-1945 and saw the University through times of the Depression and the Second World War with expansion and growth. Bowman had been an instructor in English at Iowa and Columbia universities. He worked for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, touring and auditing American colleges. IN 1911, he became president of the State University of Iowa, reorganizing its medical school and being elected as the first director of the American College of Surgeons for his management work, although he was never a surgeon. Bowman brought his experience in auditing and streamlining with him to Pittsburgh. He immediately acquired the lands at the present site of the Medical School for the University in anticipation of future growth. He decided that students seeking business, law, education or engineering degrees would spend their first two years taking courses in the College curriculum to give them a well-rounded education. In 1939, the School of Nursing opened. He also instituted the requirement of a Bachelor's degree prior to admission to the Law School. Perhaps the most visible achievements of Bowman's time were the construction of the Stephen Foster Memorial, Heinz Memorial Chapel and the Cathedral of Learning. The Cathedral, he felt, represented the city and University's spirit and technical achievements. To further represent the community in the building, from 1927-1936, the Nationality Rooms were funded by local, independent ethnic committees, showing widespread support for the plan and for the University.
In Collection
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