Dr. Kelly Cowan joins executive staff at Cincinnati State Middletown
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2015
CONTACT
Jean Manning
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
(513) 569-1519 (office)
(513) 600-7095 (cell)
jean.manning@cincinnatistate.edu
Dr. Kelly Cowan joins executive staff at Cincinnati State Middletown
Cincinnati State Middletown is pleased to announce that Dr. Kelly Cowan has joined its staff as Special
Assistant to the President. President O’Dell M. Owens stated, “The first time I met Dr. Cowan, I could tell
she had a strong passion to help Middletown residents who want to change their lives.”
Her charge is to conduct Middletown community outreach with the goal to
help local citizens realize the career opportunities that are available through
higher education. Cincinnati State Middletown offers 30 degrees and
certificates taught entirely at the Middletown branch campus and over 100
degree and certificate programs on the Clifton campus which students can
take once they have completed their general education requirements in Middletown.
Dr. Cowan has been a Professor of Microbiology since 1993 and has served
numerous roles at Miami University Middletown including as Campus Dean.
She also served as the National Chair for Undergraduate Education for the
American Society of Microbiology. At some point during her tenure at Miami
University, she said, “I fell in love with the people of Middletown, and shifted
my attention to giving – just giving, whatever I had to offer.” In 2009, she founded the Community Building
Institute (CBI) in Middletown providing cradle-to-career programming for youth and creating the Parent-
Resource Center. Dr. Cowan continues to work with other local Middletown organizations with goals of improve people’s lives.
Dr. Cowan was instrumental in early talks leading to Cincinnati State coming to Middletown in 2012.
Since then, Cincinnati State Middletown enrollment has grown to more than 680 students.
Dr. Cowan holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Louisville School of Medicine and
completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Maryland and the University of Groningen in The
Netherlands. Her scholarly publications have primarily focused on research microbiology and teaching
approaches that are effective for those pursuing nursing and other allied health careers.
ABOUT CINCINNATI STATE
Cincinnati State (www.cincinnatistate.edu) enrolls about 10,600 students and offers more than 130
associate degree and certificate programs in business technologies, health and public safety, engineering
technologies, humanities and sciences and information technologies. Cincinnati State has one of the
most comprehensive co-op programs among two-year colleges in the U.S.
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Editors: A large-format photo of Dr. Cowan is available upon request.