In Memoriam: Kathryn D. Sowle, 1932-2016

Kathryn Sowle, the former professor of law and later First Lady of Ohio University, has died at the age of 84.

Sowle graduated first in her class from the Northwestern University School of Law. Her husband Claude R. Sowle, who later became president of Ohio University, was second in the law school’s graduating class.

After law school, Kathryn Sowle served as a clerk for a U.S. District Court judge and as a research associate for the American Bar Association. She was the managing editor of the Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science.

Sowell went on to serve as a law professor for more than 20 years. First she taught at the law school of Ohio State University and then at the University of Miami School of Law. In 1969, she took time off from her successful academic career to serve for five years as First Lady of Ohio University, when her husband was named president.