Judge Dudley Bowen was born in Augusta on June 25, 1941. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley H. Bowen, Sr. His father and paternal grandfather were both graduates of Richmond Academy.

 

After graduating from ARC in 1959, Dudley Bowen obtained a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Georgia. During his time in Georgia, he studied abroad at the University of Valencia in Spain. In 1965, he obtained his LL.B. and J.D. degrees from the University of Georgia School of Law. The Universidad Externado De Columbia in Bogotá awarded Judge Bowen an honorary degree as Professor Invitado in 1986.

 

Upon the completion of the Georgia State Bar exam in April of 1965, Dudley Bowen entered general practice of law in June of the same year. In 1966, he entered active duty in the United States Army and achieved the rank of first lieutenant, Infantry. From 1966 to 1968, he served as a legal officer of special troops in the Us Army Southeastern Signal School at Fort Gordon. In 1967, he completed, with honors, a military law course at the US Army Judge Advocate General School in Charlottesville, VA.

 

In 1968, he received the Army Commendation Medal.

 

In April 1968, he resumed his law practice in Augusta and in 1972 was appointed Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Georgia. He presided over more than 3,100 bankruptcy and chapter relief cases. Bowen returned to private practice in 1975.

 

On July 19, 1979, Bowen was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to serve as US District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia. Confirmed by the United States Senate in November, he took office on December 5, 1979. He served as Chief Judge of the Southern District from 1997-2004 and took Senate Status in 2006. Chief Judge Larry Edmonson of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals spoke admiringly of Judge Bowen: "I believe he is one of the finest federal judges in the United States".

 

Judge Bowen has held many offices and memberships. From 1977-1978, he was Chairman of the Section of Bankruptcy Law for the State Bar of Georgia and Director of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute from 1978-87 and Treasurer in 1979. He served two terms as the Director of the Federal Judges Association, the first from 1984-90 and the second from 2005-11. He also served as President of the Eleventh Circuit District Judges Association from 1991-92, and was a member of the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit from 1997-2004.

 

Judge Bowen is an elder of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church. He was an active member of the Augusta Bar Association, serving as secretary, and on the Executive Committee in 1972 and 1979. Judge Bowen was a Trustee of the Augusta Richmond County Museum from 1978-1979. He has many interesting hobbies, including hunting, fishing and aviation sports.  His sole athletic attainment is a trophy he received in 1959 as Champion of the Senior Boys Division of the Augusta Jaycees Water Ski Tournament.

 

As a member of the University of Georgia Gridiron Secret Society, Judge Bowen received the University of Georgia Law School Association's Distinguished Service Scroll in 2013. In 2014, he was elected to the CSRA Junior Achievement Hall of Fame.

 

Judge Bowen's wife, Madeline Martin Bowen, is also a graduate of ARC, class of 1932. The Bowens have two children, Dr. Laura Bowen and Ms. Maury Bowen, and three grandchildren.