Darren A. Bowie

1967 - 2022

Darren A. Bowie, age 55, died unexpectedly on November 25, 2022, at his home in New York City. He was born on September 30, 1967, in Washington, DC.

He was the son of Warren Allison Bowie and Jeanne Robey Bowie both of Indian Head, Maryland. He is survived by his parents, his sister Lauren Celeste Bowie of Indian Head, MD, his grandmother, Mae Marie Bowie (age 105) of LaPlata, MD, aunts, uncles and several cousins.

Darren graduated from Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, MD in 1985, where he was class Valedictorian. He graduated with high honors from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA in 1989, with a B.A. in Government and a minor in English. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at William and Mary. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia, PA with a J.D. in 1992.

Darren began his career at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC as a litigator, bringing consumer protection enforcement actions in federal district courts across the U.S. At the FTC, he also served as Assistant Director of the Division of Advertising Practices, Assistant Director of the Division of Financial Practices, and as Legal Advisor to the FTC Chairman. As the Chairman's Legal Advisor, Darren participated in developing the FTC's earliest data privacy and data security law enforcement actions and rulemakings. He received the FTC's Louis D. Brandeis Outstanding Litigator Award and the FTC Award for Outstanding Service.

Darren served in senior legal and compliance positions for leading global financial services and technology companies following the FTC. After twelve years at the FTC, Darren joined AOL as Assistant General Counsel at AOL's headquarters in Dulles, VA. He moved to New York to become Legal Director for North America at Nokia, which was the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer. During his employment at Nokia, he traveled extensively to the company's global headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, and several other locations. Darren left Nokia to become Chief Privacy Officer and Associate General Counsel at AIG. He was recently Global Chief Privacy Officer and Managing Director at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world's largest banks, with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

Darren was active in the legal community, serving as Chair of the New York City Bar Association's Consumer Affair Committee, Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section Consumer Protection Committee, and editor and author of publications on data privacy, data security, and consumer protection legal issues. He was elected Commissioner and Chair of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission during his residence in Washington, DC.

He liked to travel, visiting many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America and traveling extensively throughout the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. He enjoyed history, museums, theatre, and politics, serving as a member of the District of Columbia Steering Committee for Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign and volunteering for and contributing to many other Democratic candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. Darren loved living in New York City, which he liked to describe as the "Center of the Universe."

He was buried next to his beloved grandparents, Lawrence and Celestia Robey at Trinity Memorial Gardens, Waldorf, MD.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Episcopal Church of New York, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025. https://www.episcopalcharities-newyork.org; or The Humane Society of the United States, 4588 23rd Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20037; or St. James Episcopal Church, 7 Potomac Avenue, Indian Head, MD 20640. Condolences for family and friends may be left at williamsfuneralhomepa.com.