Candidate for
Board Member; Sacramento City Unified School District

BIOGRAPHY BERNARD BOWLER

Bernard Bowler has served as an Education Supporter on numerous boards and commissions in California, concentrating his efforts in the area of school improvement for students at all levels of education. He recently co-chaired the Sacramento City Unified School District's Blue Ribbon Commission, a citizens' coalition focused on improving the academic success of all children in the district. He is a public commissioner on the board of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), which accredits colleges and senior universities. And he is a co-founder of LEED (Linking Education and Economic Development, a consortium with Sutter Health, the Sacramento County Office of Education and IBM), helping schools design programs that give their students the skills they need to succeed in careers.

Mr. Bowler's work in education began in 1991, when he served as the vice-chair of the California Community Colleges' Commission on Innovation. In 1995, Mayor Joe Serna appointed him to the Blue Ribbon Committee to develop and implement plans to improve Sacramento's schools. He also chaired the commission on school improvement in the Grant Joint Union High School District, chaired the SCUSD Blue Ribbon Committee for High Schools, and served on the California State University Chancellor's Commission to recommend strategies to prepare school leaders for the K-12 system.

Mr. Bowler, a native Californian, grew up in Watts. He attended the local public schools and earned a B.S. degree in mathematics from Loyola University in Los Angeles. After graduation, he became an officer in the United States Air Force, serving for five years as a B-52 aircraft Radar Navigator in the Strategic Air Command. His first civilian employment was with Pacific Telephone in Sacramento. He then joined IBM, working as an executive in many areas of the country, in positions ranging from human resources to software marketing. He concluded his 32-year career with the company back in Sacramento, as the sales executive for local and state governments in California.

The corporate boards he has served on include the US Bank of California, CSUS Trust Foundation Board (vice chair), the Sutter Healthcare Board, and the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce (chairman). In the non-profit sector, he was a member of the board of St. Hope Academy and currently serves on the Finance Committee of his church, St. Anthony Parish. In 2004-2005, he volunteered for the Sacramento County Grand Jury. The Advisor Superior Court Judge appointed him Foreman.

The recipient of the 2002 President's Award for outstanding service to CSUS, Mr. Bowler has lived in Sacramento since 1992 after a previous stint here in 1967-1975. He and his wife, Lorraine, who has returned to school to pursue her undergraduate degree, have three grown children, including a son who is married with a little boy of his own. Their children have attended public schools in cities throughout the nation, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Connecticut, the Bay Area, and Sacramento.