First on the team
Boy Scouts honor Middlesex Community College President Carole
Cowan for her commitment to others
The Lowell Sun Article
Last Updated: 01/13/2008 07:01:17 AM EST
http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7960883?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com
By Nancye Tuttle ntuttle@lowellsun.com
 LOWELL
-- "Me first" isn't something Carole Cowan says too often. Cowan,
president of Middlesex Community College, isn't egotistical.
She shies away from bragging about her accomplishments, choosing
instead to praise the people she works with. But Cowan has come
in first many times. She's the college's first female president
and received the first Girls Incorporated of Greater Lowell
Celebration of Today's Woman Award. The North Suburban Chamber
of Commerce named her its first female Distinguished Business
Person of the Year and she received one of the first Women's
Business Hall of Fame Awards for her commitment to the college.
Cowan will be first again on Feb. 26, when the Yankee Clipper
Council, Boy Scouts of America, presents her with its 2008 Distinguished
Citizen Award at a dinner at Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
As the first woman honoree, she joins a long
list of men who received the award before her.
"When I looked at the list, I realized I was
in good company. I told them I'd be glad to do it -- but that
I wouldn't wear a Scout uniform," quipped Cowan, referring to
John Chemaly, who accepted the award two years ago in full Boy
Scout regalia.
"It's a great honor and humbling in a lot of ways. But any
time I'm recognized by the community, it's a reflection of the
great people I work with here at the college," she said.
Cowan's name was at the top of the list when the award committee
met last fall, said Chuck Marvin, the council's finance director.
"Her name came up, and it was unanimous from the start,"
he said.
The award goes to "individuals who have demonstrated integrity
and genuine concern for others ... the recipient need not have
been a Scout but must carry the 'Spirit of Scouting' into their
adult life."
Born in Lynn, the middle of three children, Cowan was raised
by a single mom who emphasized education.
Her early schooling was at St. Michael's in Lynn, where she
was one of two Irish kids in the Polish parish school.
"The nuns taught us a lot. My mother always said that students
who did well in life were taught by nuns," said Cowan.
She also learned respect for authority and was "shocked"
when she started Lynn Classical High School at how little her
classmates respected their teachers.
At Lynn Classical, she excelled in business and still found
time to be a cheerleader for football and basketball. She planned
to work as a secretary at General Electric when she graduated
in 1959 at age 16. But her mother and uncle had other ideas.
"Girls didn't go to college as much then. But my mother and
uncle wanted me to go to college. It was either Northeastern,
where my brother was, or Salem State. My uncle, who was a guidance
counselor, helped me with my decision," she said.
She sailed through Salem State and started teaching business
at age 20. Within a year, she was back in school for her master's
degree, then earned a certificate from Boston State. Along the
way, she worked for the family business, a real estate firm
constructing new homes, and had her son Kevin, now 40.
By 1976, she was teaching business and rising through the
ranks at MCC. She held positions as dean of the business division
and dean of administration and finance, while earning her doctorate,
with a concentration in community college leadership, in 1980
at UMass Amherst.
Cowan juggles many jobs, including serving on local, statewide,
regional and national boards. And, she says, it wouldn't be
possible without her co-workers.
"The college environment is wonderful. It's like a team,
with everyone doing their jobs. I have wonderful people working
with me who contribute way beyond their job descriptions," she
said.
Under her leadership, MCC weathered severe budget cuts, yet
Cowan successfully secured permanent campuses in Bedford and
Lowell.
That's her proudest accomplishment and one she hopes to build
upon.
"Our major plan for the next decade is to secure funding
for new academic buildings in Lowell and Bedford," she said.
She has no plans to retire yet, but will know when the time
is right.
"I like working, but I'm not a workaholic," she said.
And, as she has all her life, Cowan will continue to encourage
others, appreciate them and lead with quiet conviction.
"I was a cheerleader, and I still am. I haven't stopped,
I'm just cheering for different things," she said.
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