Dr. David Bowman: An International Entrepreneur
By Dillon Seawright
With a new school year well underway, there are a lot of new elements at Southern Virginia University. With that being said, I’m honored to highlight the new business professor, Dr. David Bowman. This is Bowman’s first year of being a professor and is currently teaching two courses: entrepreneurship and principles of business and organization.
After serving his mission in Ogden, Utah, Bowman attended Southern Virginia University in 1997 and graduated in 2000. Although Bowman had thoughts of attending a bigger university, he decided to attend Southern Virginia University after falling in love with the academic philosophy and values of the University. When Bowman first arrived at Southern Virginia University as a student, he made a deal with the school’s bookstore and designed apparel for the sports teams. After a while, he dropped that business to focus on bettering himself and expanding his ideas as a student. As a student, Bowman participated in cross country, student government, and choir. He graduated with a liberal arts degree, a business degree, with an American legal students minor.
After graduating from Southern Virginia University, Bowman went to Brigham Young University for his master’s degree, focusing on business and school of education. While attending Brigham Young, Bowman explored behavior and organization programs. When doing this, he found an opportunity to go to both Haiti and Switzerland. During these trips, Bowman was fortunate enough to teach and work at an international level. Through those experiences, Bowman learned about a conference and got accepted to present something in Europe, which he then fell in love with.
After graduating from Brigham Young in 2004, Bowman decided to attend Oxford University in England. There, he got another master’s degree and enrolled to get his doctorate degree. Worried about paying off his loans, Bowman started a business importing consumer goods from the U.S.. To his luck, his business took off and started growing quickly. Due to taking time off to grow his business, Bowman didn’t get his doctorate until 2011. He and his family lived in England until 2019, when he acquired dual citizenship and started to run his business in the United States.
In 2019, Bowman moved to Utah and continued to run his business from home, doing some guest lectures at business schools. This year, Bowman decided to come teach at Southern Virginia University; his first job where he isn’t his own boss. When talking with Bowman, he told me he loved the school when he attended and he’s glad to be back. Bowman also mentioned his excitement of being able to bring his experience to the classroom, betting his student’s education. Bowman said that it’s fun being a part of something bigger [Southern Virginia’s impact on students]. He is excited to be able to connect and teach ideas and experiences to students.
Dr. David Bowman: International Entrepreneur was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.