John Dowling

Williamsburg - John Dowling, 88, of Williamsburg, died January 31, 2009. Born November 14, 1920 in Strawn, Texas, Dr. Dowling was the son of the late Albert Clarkson Dowling and Georgia Anna Turrill Dowling. A graduate of the Taos, N.M., high school and valedictorian of his class, Dr. Dowling held the bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado, where he was elected to the honorary Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean area. He was a graduate of the Navy Japanese Language School at Boulder, Colo. He later retired from the Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander after 20 years of service.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Constance Guinevere Ford Dowling; his son, Lt. Col. Robert Dowling, U.S. Army (Ret.); his daughter-in-law, Laura Dowling; his three granddaughters, Victoria, Michele and Nicole, all of Manassas, Va., and his sister, Ms. Loretta Miller of Las Cruces, N.M.
Dr. Dowling retired from the University of Georgia in 1992 as Alumni Foundations Distinguished Professor of Romance Languages and as Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School.
During a career of 45 years in higher education, after completing the doctoral degree, Dr. Dowling chaired departments of foreign languages at Texas Tech University, Lubbock; Indiana University, Bloomington, and the University of Georgia. He served as visiting professor at the University of Texas and the University of Iowa; as adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina, Beaufort; and as interim dean of the Schmidt College of Arts and Humanities of Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton, Fla.
As a professor, he taught Spanish courses at all levels from elementary language through graduate literature seminars and directed master's theses and doctoral dissertations. He also taught elementary courses in French, Latin and Portuguese. He was the author of four books, seven editions of literary texts, more than 80 research articles, 55 book reviews and 30 professional publications. He served as Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Georgia from 1979 to 1989. Aside from day-to-day administration, he cooperated with the graduate faculty to initiate new master's and doctoral programs, among them: mass communications, musical arts, social work, historic preservation, agricultural economics and artificial intelligence. With the assistance of the Graduate Council, he took the initiative to revise the by-laws under which the Council and the Graduate School operated. With the cooperation of the university administration, the governor's office and the legislature, he worked to initiate a new fee structure for graduate assistants that has permitted the University of Georgia and other units of the University System of Georgia to compete on a national basis to attract outstanding graduate students who also serve on the instructional and research staffs of the System. The step was of singular importance to a state that formerly suffered a net loss of students in graduate education.
On the national level, as a member of a joint committee of the Council of Graduate Deans and the Africa-American Institute of New York City, Dr. Dowling worked to bring outstanding young Africans to the United States to study at the graduate level in scientific, applied and technical fields. In 1988, the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools recognized Dr. Dowling with its Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in the Southern Region, consisting of a plaque and a cash award.
Among his many honors and recognitions, Dr. Dowling was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Corresponding Member of the Hispanic Society of America. His first book was awarded a cash prize by the Academia de Alfonso X el Sabio of Murcia, Spain; and an article of his was awarded the journal Hispania's cash prize for the best article on Spanish Peninsular literature during the period 1968-70. In 1955, he was Director of a National Defense Education Act Second-Level Summer Language Institute of Indiana University in Salamanca, Spain, for high school teachers of Spanish. In 1977, he was Director of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers of Spanish at the University of Georgia. Former students, Douglas and Linda Jane Barnette, honored him with the publication of a Festschrift of research articles written by former colleagues.
Dr. Dowling served his professional societies in several capacities. He was a member of the Delegate Assembly of the Modern Language Association (1982-85), President of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (1982-85) and President of the Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (1981-82). He was president of the Alpha of Georgia chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for two years. He served as a member of the editorial boards of several presses and journals, among them: the University of Georgia Press, Georgia Review, Tamesis Books Limited, Hispanic Review, Eighteenth-Century Studies, South Atlantic Review and Estreno.
The family will receive friends from 2 p.m. - 3 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2009 at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Road, Williamsburg, VA, with the service to follow at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Chantel Dunham, Director of Development, Main Library, University of Georgia Library, 320 South Jackson Street, Athens, GA 30602. Make the check payable to the Arch Foundation. Designate your gift towards Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript Library in memory of Dr. John C. Dowling.
Online condolences may be registered at www.nelsencares.com.