Bowman will succeed Dr. Howard Part, who is stepping down after 14 years as dean to teach full-time in the medical school, according to Wright State.
Wright State President David Hopkins said Bowman was selected from a “strong pool of highly qualified candidates.”
“She will bring outstanding experience to the Boonshoft School of Medicine in many areas, one of which is her significant interest and work in the area of health care community partnerships,” he said in a news release.
Bowman was named a “Top Doctor” by U.S. News and World Report in 2011 and placed on the “Best Doctors List in America” for 2011 by Best Doctors Inc., according to Wright State.
She was the first female chair of a clinical department in Penn’s School of Medicine and founder of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
She has also written several books and articles and reviewed publications, including the Journal of Women’s Health.
Bowman said she was attracted to the Boonshoft school “because it is a school truly birthed of and for its community.”
“The school has benefited immensely from excellent leadership which has created a forward thinking collaborative for superior health care and for highly creative research while maintaining an educational model that is emulated nationally,” Bowman said in a news release. “Such a magnificent spirit of both innovation and inquiry will serve the school well into the future, and I am honored to take the helm at such an exciting time in Boonshoft’s history.”
In addition to her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, Bowman has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California.
She previously worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in health policy work and was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Services. She is dual board-certified in family medicine and public health and general preventive medicine.
Bowman has served as a consultant to several branches of government and many universities, and previously served as president of the American Board of Family Practice—now known as the American Board of Family Medicine.