 Bowman, an African-American, received a bachelor's degree in speech pathology from Augustana College in 1975, a Master's in speech-language pathology from Eastern Illinois University in 1976 and a PhD in speech and hearing science at University of Illinois in 1979.He started his academic career with ISU in 1978 as a faculty member in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology (now the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders) and in 1994 he was appointed chair of the department, as well as director of Down Syndrome Speech-Language Clinic.In 2002, Bowman left the chair position to serve as Illinois State's interim provost.