Dr. John Paul Cowley, professor emeritus of English at the University of Northern Iowa, died Saturday, December 28, 1985, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. He was 81. He was a member of the UNI English Department from 1945 until his retirement in 1973. He served as Acting Head of the department during the 1962-63 academic year.
Dr. Cowley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1904. He received his bachelor's degree from Heidelberg College in 1928, a master's degree from the University of Wichita in 1930, and his doctoral degree from Yale University in 1943. Prior to joining the UNI English faculty in 1945, Dr. Cowley taught speech at the University of Wichita; English, speech, and history at Colorado State College; and English at Indiana University. He served as dean of the Junior College of Commerce in New Haven, Connecticut, and as an editor for the World Publishing Company.
In 1973 he was awarded the Iowa Council of Teachers of English (ICTE) Distinguished Service Award. The award was made for his decade-long service as liaison officer between the ICTE and the National Council of Teachers of English; for his service on the Council's censorship, teaching load, and public relations committees; and for his contribution to the creation of the ICTE constitution and bylaws. Dr. Cowley published articles on Sir Walter Scott's "Lawyer and the Bishop" and "Marmion." He was a charter member and lay leader of the Unitarian-Universalist Society of Black Hawk County.
He is survived by his wife, Helen; a son, John Thornton of Sioux City; a daughter, Jo Bedard, of Blacksburg, Virginia; a brother, William, of Glendale, Arizona; and two grandchildren. There will be no funeral or memorial service.