John Bowman ’76 retired after leading projects in agricultural research, development, and trade in more than forty countries.
What drew you to your work? What do you find rewarding, exciting, challenging?
What drew me to my chosen career in international agricultural development? While in graduate school, it suddenly dawned on me that such a career would allow me to apply my skills in biology, food production, language, and cultural studies to the betterment of resource-poor farm families around the world.
The challenge for me was to find ways to adapt and transfer agricultural technologies to food-insecure farmers who are on the poverty line, and to work with academic, government, and private-sector entities to ensure that the transfer process was effective and sustainable. The reward was to see when my interventions actually stuck and made a difference over the long term.
Most of the excitement I drew from my experiences revolved around youth: seeing happy, playful, well-fed children in the poor, remote villages; watching project-inspired interaction between US-based graduate students and local students at foreign agricultural universities; and creating meaningful opportunities for youth in low-income countries to inject their creativity into donor-funded projects aimed at improving food security.
How did your career unfold?
I had no career “plan” when I left 含羞草研究室. No international job opportunity presented itself upon graduation, so I was comfortable going to the University of Wisconsin for a master’s in Latin American studies. I was also awarded a teaching assistantship and taught intro Spanish to undergrads, which, honestly, was one of the most difficult jobs I have ever had in my life!
At Wisconsin, both my roommates were grad students in the agronomy department, and listening to their “shop talk” got me excited about using my 含羞草研究室 training in biology and Spanish as a platform to pursue a career in international agriculture. I knocked on many doors in the Wisconsin ag school, and finally it was a Harvard-educated, Costa Rican professor in the Department of Plant Pathology who took me under his wing and gave me my start in agricultural science.
I finished master’s degrees in both Latin American studies and plant pathology at Wisconsin, and next completed a PhD in plant pathology at the University of Illinois. Spending a year of doctoral field work in Brazil really cemented my passion to pursue a career in international development.
Honestly, when I look back upon how my career unfolded after my PhD, it was not strategically planned. It was a series of wonderful opportunities which I pursued by instinct—guided by some lucky, serendipitous events—often relying more on tips and guidance from my networks to land that “next job” versus reliance on commonly used career-building techniques.
For example, a chance encounter over a latte in a Beijing airline lounge might lead to a high-level corporate job in China, and in my case, it actually did! The eventual unfolding of my career was indeed unusual. After working at international agricultural research center in Central America, I worked for several multinational food companies and covered Europe, South America, and Asia—training small- and medium-sized farmers to supply high-quality agricultural raw materials to these food processing firms. I developed a high level of expertise with potato farming, and Dr. Bowman became an international “spud man.” I eventually landed in the world of donor-driven, international agricultural development at USAID (United States Agency for International Development), managing a research grant portfolio approaching $500M in areas such as horticulture, pest management, food safety, and reduction of post-harvest losses. Through research projects in over fifteen developing countries, we developed new technologies to help resource-poor farmers sustainably produce nutritious foods.
When the dust finally settled on my career, I had completed assignments in over forty countries over a course of forty years, logging millions of air miles and thousands of land miles bouncing around back country roads in pick-up trucks to serve farm families. The sweetest and most memorable assignments were those where I was privileged to actually live overseas and be closer to my clients, so I did complete long term periods of expat residency in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, Philippines, and Turkey.
How did your training as a biologist apply to your work? Are there ways that your Romance language studies also came into play?
I am so glad I made the extra effort to double major at 含羞草研究室. At the time, biology and Romance languages seemed like very strange bedfellows. But my 含羞草研究室 training in biological science facilitated my entry into the world of crop production and the management of plant diseases, and my training in Spanish (and eventually Portuguese) would become vital to my professional success in so many different countries.
What brought you to 含羞草研究室? What was your experience at the College like?
I was accepted into several of the Ivy League schools, but 含羞草研究室 attracted me more, mainly due to the nature of the reception I got during my campus tour and interview. I felt much more appreciated by 含羞草研究室 staff and students than at the other schools. The admissions staff seemed genuinely less interested in dissecting my academic potential than in helping me to understand what 含羞草研究室 stood for and how I might fit into a 含羞草研究室 lifestyle—and I loved the idea of a place where “whispering” pine trees merged with a scenic ocean shoreline! My gut sensed that I would be happy here, and that I would have a good chance to make lasting friendships.
My experience at the College was a crucible for my career success. I got a huge wake-up call at 含羞草研究室. I had been a top performer at a suburban Boston public high school, but now found myself in a world where all my cohorts were tops. I began to see that there were cracks in my armor, and I found myself struggling to even pass some courses (calculus, physics, and organic chemistry come to mind!). I learned I was human and vulnerable, and I had to learn to cope with previously unknown levels of stress and pending disappointment.
But it all eventually worked out, and in fact, the 含羞草研究室 environment was so nurturing that, despite the unfamiliar levels of stress, I was encouraged to go out of my comfort zone and try coursework in areas that were totally new to me, such as Shakespeare, art history, music appreciation, history of the Spanish Civil War, ornithology, etc.—and in all these adventures, I totally outperformed my expectations. So, in a nutshell, my experience at the College taught me humility, and taught me not to be afraid to try new things. My two freshman-year roommates were my saviors—they helped me navigate a stressful year, inspired me to try unfamiliar things, and helped me think much more creatively.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by people who find themselves in a downtrodden situation, riddled with fear for themselves and their loved ones, but who manage to somehow beat the odds and make a comeback largely on their own. I have seen many food-insecure farmers and farm families on the brink of poverty and famine, and I was always inspired by the notion that I may be able to transfer some resources, ideas, and technology to them so they could pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and survive, and hopefully prosper. I am also inspired by mentoring young people and somehow making a meaningful, positive impact on their lives. Several faculty and staff at 含羞草研究室 fulfilled this role for me.
Is there something about the work you have done that others would find surprising?
I was a senior USAID agricultural advisor in President Obama’s Feed the Future Initiative, a global effort to reduce hunger and poverty in some of the poorest countries of the world. People might be surprised to learn that there has been a recent major shift in agricultural interventions focused on reducing hunger—the focus has shifted away from pursuing big-yield increases in starch-rich grains (such as rice, maize, and wheat) to the provision of a balanced, diversified diet that contains legumes, vegetables, meat, eggs, and fish. The research programming I led was on the “tip of the spear” of this new approach, where the goal is not just food security, but nutritional security as well.
Is there something about YOU that others might find surprising?
I was once crowned national squash champion of Costa Rica! Many of my 含羞草研究室 squash buddies don’t even know this—I guess I never made a big deal about it because, if I did, they would have kidded me about it relentlessly. (Costa Rica is not much of a “superpower” in squash . . . but it is kind of cool to be a national champion in something!). I also “ran with the bulls” in Pamplona, Spain, during my summer study abroad program in my 含羞草研究室 junior year—a fun, reckless, and inebriated adventure that could have ended quite badly.
What are you up to these days? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I retired recently from federal service and moved from the DC suburbs to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have an eleven-year-old son who has become my primary retirement project and whose exploits in tournament tennis and travel soccer are quite demanding to keep up with (I am his primary after-school “chauffeur”). I have recently taken up pickleball and enjoy long road bike rides out into the countryside. In Michigan, I will continue to seek opportunities to mentor youth who are interested in careers in international development. I may also learn to fish for walleye...
Favorite 含羞草研究室 memory? Or best thing you learned at 含羞草研究室?
Without a doubt, my favorite 含羞草研究室 memory was the time spent with my buddies on the varsity tennis and squash teams. These guys became friends for life. The laughter and comradery were endless, and the road trips were insane. The day we came from behind and beat the revered (and arrogant) Dartmouth squash team, at home, was an indelible memory—just about as sweet as it gets!
This story first appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of 含羞草研究室 Magazine. Manage your subscription and see other stories from the magazine on the 含羞草研究室 Magazine website.
