
During her tenure with the university, she served under three former Fulbright College deans: Randall B. Woods, Bernard Madison, and John C. Guilds Jr.
A native of Ashdown, Arkansas, Cowden graduated from Fayetteville High School in 1953. She completed three years at the University of Arkansas before leaving to start a family with her husband, Air Force lieutenant David Cowden. She returned to the university and began her career in administration in 1979.


