Dorothy Bowe Collection on Women at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1969

Association of MIT Alumnae, honorary member

1970-1986

Eloranta Selection Committee

1972

Women’s Forum, founding member

Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, Subcommittee on Women

1972-1986

Committee on Academic Performance

Women’s Advisory Committee

1973-1975

Carnegie Foundation Grant, “Upward Mobility of Women in the Scientific Professions,” research assistant

Staff Classification Study, Benchmark and Function Committee

1973-1986

Women’s Faculty Committee

1975-1986

Athletic Advisory Board

Secondary Technical Education Project

1976

Women’s Independent Living Group, founding member and permanent member of their Corporation

MIT Women’s League, chair of Nominating Committee

1976-1986

Committee on Commencement

1978-1986

Dining Advisory Board

Green Fellowship Selection Committee

1979-1980

Athletic Director Search Committee

1980

Alpha Phi Omega, Service Fraternity, Advisory

Alumni Council

Inauguration Committee Staff

1980-1981

Task Force on Interfraternity Council

1980-1986

Advisory Committee on Women Student Interests

1981-1985

Faculty Club Advisory Board

1982

MIT Women’s League, chair of Nominating Committee

1984

MIT Alumni Association, honorary member

Quarter Century Board of Directors

1986-1987

Task Force on Career Development within Financial Operations Area

Dorothy Elizabeth Leaman Bowe was born December 1, 1930 in Townsend, Massachusetts. She attended the Fay School of Boston (1948-1949). Following a year as secretary for the Peter Gray Corporation in Cambridge, she came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in May 1950 as a secretary to professor John T. Norton in the Department of Metallurgy. Her duties included administering the graduate student program in the department. She also assisted professor Carle R. Hayward in the preparation of his book Outline of Metallurgical Practice.

In 1964 Bowe transferred to the office of the Dean for Student Affairs, Kenneth R Wadleigh, to work on two new programs: the Foreign Student Program and also a Women’s Program. The Women’s Program reviewed the status of women students at the Institute and advised the MIT administration on all matters that affected them. Bowe assisted the first director of the program, Associate Dean Jacquelyn Mattfeld, and her successor, Associate Dean Emily L. Wick, who took over the program in 1965.

In 1969 Bowe was promoted to Assistant to the Dean for Student Affairs. Her area of responsibility included the newly reorganized Premedical Advisory Program, which advised and assisted MIT students, both male and female, who were considering careers in medicine. In 1971 she joined the Student Financial Aid Office as Assistant Director, and became Associate Director in 1974.

Bowe’s interest in and commitment to the life and role of women at MIT was fostered by her work with the Women’s Program and her personal experiences as an employee at MIT. Her involvement went beyond the scope of her actual position, and she provided a focal point for women in many areas, such as athletics, where she was the first woman to serve as a member of the Athletic Advisory Board.

Dorothy Bowe married Gerald J. Bowe in June 1953. She retired from MIT in December 1986, but continued to serve as a director of the MIT Quarter Century Club and as an advisor to the Women’s Independent Living Group.