Lieutenant Colonel
Professor of Journalism
Director of Graduate Studies, ASU College of Communications
President, ASU Faculty Association
Dr. Gilbert L. Fowler, Jr., was born in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on 27 January 1949. He graduated from Arkansas State in 1971 with a B.S. in journalism and a commission in the Field Artillery. In his military career he has served in the U.S. Army Reserve in a number of positions, to include Commander of the 138th Military Intelligence Detachment, Commander of the 343rd Public Affairs Detachment, and the Public Affairs Officer for both the 122nd ARCOM and the 90th Regional Support Command. He earned his M.A. in journalism from the University of Mississippi in 1975 and his Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University in 1978. That year he joined the faculty at Arkansas State University, where he rose to the rank of full Professor in the Department of Journalism in 1984. At ASU Prof. Fowler has served as director of Graduate Studies for the College of Communications. He served as President of the ASU Faculty Association/Chair of the Faculty Senate in 1986. Prof. Fowler was awarded the Outstanding Teaching award by ASU in 1993. He has also served as Editor, Business Manager, and Editorial Board Member of various scholarly journals; a reviewer for several major national publishing houses; and a consultant for regional and national media, to include the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Chicaco Sun Times. As a scholar his work led to his selection as the first educator to address the American Newspaper Publishers Association, with follow-on presentations in scholarly forums in Luxembourg and the U.S., and in 1997 Colonel Fowler was selected as one of Fifty Distinguished Ole Miss Alumni as part of the celebration of their Department of Journalism's 50th year. He has published and presented over 100 articles and served as President of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication and President of the Greater Jonesboro Education Committee. He is married to the former Carolyn Kerner of Dell, AR., and has a son, Barry, and a daughter, Kara.
