Bower, who also is a human development specialist with the UGA
Cooperative
Extension Service and interim chair of the CFD department, has
spent nearly 30
years with the university. Among his many awards, he was named
the 2003 Walter
Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service and Outreach Fellow,
the highest award
offered in Public Service and Outreach.
Bower, who is certified in family and consumer sciences by
AAFCS, has been
involved with the national organization for many years. He
served as vice president
for planning from 2002-2004, has chaired the AAFCS nominating
committee, the
resolutions committee, and served as president of the Georgia
affiliate several years
ago.
“Dr. Bower will make an excellent president of AAFCS,”
according to FACS Dean
Sharon Y. Nickols, who served in the position from July 2002-
July 2003. “His long-
time involvement with AAFCS reflects his commitment to ensuring
that family and
consumer sciences maintains its vitality at all levels.”
Throughout his career, Bower has developed a variety of
programs designed to
address the needs of children and families. For example, in the
late 1970s he
approached the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety with a plan
to educate
Georgians about the importance of safety seats and how to
install them correctly.
The program has dramatically reduced the trauma from car
crashes, the leading
killer of children.
In addition, the program has grown into the Georgia Traffic
Injury
Prevention Institute, which has an annual budget of nearly $1
million and provides
training and education throughout Georgia on a variety of
safety programs,
including the importance of seatbelts and a new program to help
parents and teens
learn what they need to do during the 40 hours of supervised
driving time required
by Georgia law.
Bower earned his undergraduate degree in family sociology from
Denison University
in 1974, his master’s in child and family development from the
University of Arizona
in 1975, and his doctorate in public administration from UGA in
1989. He is
certified as a family life educator by the National Council on
Family Relations.
“I’m looking forward to my term as president of AAFCS,” Bower
said. “This is an
organization that touches lives in so many ways. Whether it’s
the researcher
exploring child development, the FACS county Extension Service
agent providing
programs on home buying, or the high school teacher introducing
students to the
practical aspects of nutrition, AAFCS provides the essential
support for all of our
professionals to help families apply research to improve their
lives.”
The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences is the
only national
forum where K-12 teachers, university educators and corporate
managers
collaborate to improve the quality of individual, family and
community life. AAFCS
has more than 10,000 members.
