Meet: Karen Myers-Bowman, dean of the College of Education

By Walter Ryce

The division of Academic Affairs has been re-energized with a leadership team of people who are new to campus, but who bring substantial experience and passion for the mission of CSUMB. Among them is Karen Myers-Bowman, dean of the College of Education. 

Myers-Bowman grew up in Elgin, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in a family that was very committed to issues of social justice. She was involved from an early age in learning how to advocate for and empower those who were oppressed and marginalized, both locally and globally. 

Living close to Chicago also afforded her the privilege of indulging in her family’s love of knowledge, music and the arts. She has fond memories of visiting museums and getting to see musicals with iconic performers, such as Carol Channing in “Hello, Dolly!” and Yul Brenner in “The King and I.”

Myers-Bowman has been very involved in the performing arts throughout her life. In fact she started college as a music major who sang soprano, played violin and acted. But coming from a supportive family steeped in parenting and family education, she also was deeply attracted to working directly with people in that realm. 

“When I took a child psychology class, I really started to find what I was interested in,” she said. “That’s where my passion lies — with children and families.”

She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Manchester University and master's and doctoral degrees in child development and family studies from Purdue University. She worked as faculty at North Dakota State University for four years and Kansas State University for 19 years. Prior to coming to CSUMB, she was at San Diego State University for six years, where she was a chair, senior associate dean and finally interim dean for SDSU Global Campus. 

“The CSUs walk their talk when it comes to underrepresented populations and that’s extremely important to me,” she said. “It’s real in the CSUs.”

Among her goals for the College of Education are addressing the shortages in K-12 education by creating excitement for the profession, forming partnerships with local schools, paving pathways for local young people to get to CSUMB and getting individuals highly trained and into classrooms in communities where they are needed. 

“This goes beyond just classroom teachers, but also [includes] school psychologists, speech-language pathologists, educational leaders and child and family specialists working hand-in-hand with the communities to improve the lives of individuals and families,” she said. 

The mission is to graduate teachers and service professionals who will meet the needs of their communities and prepare generations of students to help shape the future. 

Her message to those prospective College of Education students: “We make a significant difference in people’s lives because everyone has teachers, parents and families. We’re at the center. Come be a difference-maker with us.”