Isaiah Bowman

Isaiah Bowman was born in Waterloo County of Pennsylvania German parents, who moved to Michigan when he was a small child.

His great scholastic achievements won for him distinction in many fields and he became known as one of the world’s foremost geographers. A graduate of Harvard and Yale Universities, he became a professor at Yale. He led expeditions to South America in 1907 and 1913 and served as geographer and geologist on a Peruvian expedition in 1911.

He was President of Johns Hopkins University from 1935 to 1948.

Bowman accompanied the American delegation to the Peace Conference following World War I and was adviser to Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt. He also took part in the World Security Conference in Dunbarton Oaks in 1944.

In honour of his memory and in recognition of his many accomplishments, the University of Waterloo named its Social Science Building, “The Isaiah Bowman Building.”