DSCC Naming Ceremony Honors Dr. Karen A. Bowyer
Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC) held a Naming Ceremony for the Dr. Karen A. Bowyer Mathematics Building on Friday, September 9, on the Dyersburg campus.
DSCC President Dr. Scott Cook, along with Dr. Karen Bowyer, DSCC President Emeritus; Reverend Gary Meade, Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; Dr. Russ Deaton, Tennessee Board of Regents; Ms. Emma Reynolds; Dr. Kay Patterson; Ms. Sara Brasfield Carter; DSCC faculty and staff, and local community members officially unveiled the Dr. Karen A. Bowyer Mathematics Building.
Dr. Bowyer became the first female president at a public higher education institution in Tennessee when she became interim president at Dyersburg State Community College on November 5, 1984, and, after a 37-year tenure at DSCC, the longest-serving president in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. During that time, off-campus centers were developed in Trenton and Covington and fundraising was formalized through the Annual Fund and DSCC Foundation. These initiatives resulted in raising approximately $45 million and growing more than 100%, peaking at 3,751 students in 2011-12 at the end of the Great Recession.
After the naming ceremony, guests joined Dr. Bowyer for a reception and the unveiling of her portrait and plaque inside the Dr. Karen A. Bowyer Mathematics Building.