The campus community mourns the passing of Jeffrey Bowen, who died Saturday, Nov. 23. Jeffrey retired as professor emeritus of physics in 2014 after 35 years of service to Bucknell. His departmental colleagues valued him as a friend for many years, and admired his commitment to his students and his role in developing an award-winning curriculum. He will be missed.
I encourage you to visit our In Memoriam site to share personal notes of sympathy and remembrance with others.
On behalf of our entire University community, I extend our deepest sympathies to Jeffrey’s family, as well as to all who knew him at Bucknell.
John C. Bravman
President
Jeffrey Mann Bowen passed away peacefully on November 23, 2024. Jeff was born in Wilmington, Delaware on April 29th, 1951 to Virginia Veness and Griffith Bowen. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Mary Beth James of Ithaca, NY and his children, John and Kate Bowen of Carlsbad CA, Katherine James Bowen of Pittsburgh PA, Becky and Zach Sims of Enfield NY, and Hannah Bowen of Lake Placid FL. Jeff has a sister, Betsy Bowen and three grandchildren, Wesley, Malcolm and Henrietta. He received a bachelor’s degree at Williams College and a PhD at the University of North Carolina.
Among Jeff’s finest accomplishments was his long and committed career as a teacher, mentor, and professor. For 35 years Jeff served on the faculty of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA as a Physics professor. His students described Jeff as enthusiastic and energetic with a passion for the complexities of physics and mathematics. His early career theoretical work on black-collisions contributed to the ground-breaking LIGO discovery of gravitational waves in 2015.
Jeff was a parishioner of St. Andrew’s Episcopal church, Lewisburg. He taught bridge classes and in 2000 helped rejuvenate the Lewisburg Bridge-a-thon. After moving to Ithaca, NY in 2019, he served on the Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, organized community game nights, and volunteered at Loaves and Fishes meal program and Laundry Love support program.
He was a lifelong lover of board games, sports, classical music, theatre, travel, and outdoor recreation. He loved spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren and his infectious zest for life will remain in their hearts.
A Memorial service will be held on Jan 4, 2025, 11am, at St. Johns Episcopal Church, Ithaca. A Celebration of Life with music and storytelling will be held at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Lewisburg on January 11 at 2pm.
Those wishing to make a memorial donation may contribute to American Field Service afsusa.org/donate, or to Loaves and Fishes of Tompkins County, https://loaves.charityproud.org.
Jeff was a truly amazing colleague, friend, and human being. My family and I had the privilege of knowing him in three different contexts: he was our neighbor, our Bucknell colleague, and fellow parishioner at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. He was one of the first people we met when we moved to Lewisburg 22 years ago. I will always remember how much his students adored him: when walking in downtown Lewisburg, I would often see smiling groups of students yell at him, “Hi Professor Bowen!” when they saw him pass by. At St. Andrew’s, he was so supportive of everyone, but especially of stressed out and overworked parents of young children. He always knew what to say to make them smile and keep everything in perspective. He often organized game nights and “Parents Nights Out” to give working parents a break. He was always positive, caring, and passionate about life. My favorite Commencements were when I ended up sitting next to him. We will all miss him very much.