Alumni Gift Will Open Windows to the World

Charles Lee Bowden and Virginia Massey Bowden

Charles Lee Bowden, M.D. and Virginia Massey Bowden, Ph.D.

UT alumni Virginia Massey Bowden, Ph.D., and Charles Lee Bowden, M.D., are passionate about empowering others to expand their knowledge and strengthen their minds. Helping others achieve these goals is their life’s work. But they were recently inspired to do more. The San Antonio couple established the Virginia & Charles Bowden Endowed Professorship in Librarianship — in addition to other generous gifts — through a gift of appreciated stock to the School of Information (iSchool) at The University of Texas at Austin.

“Academic libraries are essential to the success of faculty and students,” said Virginia, who served for many years as library director for the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “As the iSchool continues to grow, we hope this professorship will open windows to the world for students and help create a new generation of leaders in information science.”

Charles, a retired psychiatrist and faculty member at UTHSCSA, added, “Professorships are crucial for recruiting and retaining world-class scholars. Our gift will add a dedicated subject matter expert to the iSchool faculty who can develop new research ideas and advance his or her scholarly work. We hope our gift will help UT continue to excel as a top-tier university.”

Virginia and Charles credit UT as the University that changed the course of their lives. It’s the place where they met and fell in love. And it’s the place where they excelled in their education. They hope their gift will ensure that future generations of librarians have the same life-changing opportunities.