Robert Taylor McCowan (July 28, 1928 – November 12, 2003) was an American businessman, president of Ashland Petroleum (1974), executive vice chairman of Ashland, Inc.(1980), board of trustees member of the University of Kentucky from 1981 to 1988, and subsequent chairman of the board from 1984 to 1989. Early life and education McCowan was born in Carlisle, Kentucky, on July 28, 1928. He was the son of William Ray McCowan, Sr. and Susan Margaret Taylor, both Kentucky natives. He spent most of his early life in Lexington, Kentucky, where he attended Maxwell Elementary and Morton Junior High schools and graduated from Henry Clay High School in 1946. He grew up on Rose Street in Lexington just across from University of Kentucky’s old Stoll Field/McLean Stadium and spent much of his youth on UK's campus. His childhood consisted of sneaking into UK's old Alumni Gymnasium to watch the Kentucky Wildcats practice under Coach Adolph Rupp. Those experiences sparked a passion for UK athletics that would span his whole life. McCowan attended the University of Kentucky between 1946 and 1951, and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the UK College of Commerce, now the Gatton College of Business and Economics. As a UK student, he was president of the Student Union Board and was awarded membership in Omicron Delta Kappa – a leadership honorary, Beta Gamma Sigma – a commerce scholastic honorary, and Lamp and Cross – honorary given to seniors displaying outstanding leadership. As an alumnus, he was elected to a seat at the Directors Table of Beta Gamma Sigma. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, he completed the University of Illinois Executive Development Program in 1964. He worked for Ashland, Inc. from 1951 to 1988 – rising through the ranks to become the company's vice chairman in 1980. Career McCowan's association with Ashland began by chance when he was a student at UK and encountered a recruiter named Jim Hiatt, in the university's old commerce building. McCowan, then president of the student union, asked whether there was a problem when he saw his visibly upset. Hiatt came to recruit seniors for a company called Ashland Oil, but no one had set up a table for him or lined up interviewees. McCowan told Hiatt he could interview him right then and there, and so he did and was hired. McCowan joined Ashland, Inc. in 1951 as a sales representative.