In Memoriam: Lillian Bridwell-Bowles, 1947-2024

Lillian Bridwell-Bowles, professor emerita of English at Louisiana State University, passed away on June 24. She was 76 years old.

As an educator, Dr. Bridwell-Bowles focused her teaching on rhetoric, writing, culture, and women’s and gender studies. Her career began with teaching positions at the University of Nebraska and the University of Minnesota. She joined the faculty at Louisiana State University in 2004. One year into her tenure at LSU, she founded what is now know as the Communication Across the Curriculum program, an interdisciplinary initiative focused on developing students’ multimodal skills in writing, speaking, and visual communication.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Bridwell-Bowles wrote five books on various rhetoric and history topics including Identity Matters: Rhetorics of Difference (Pearson, 1997) and Rhetorical Women: Roles and Representations (University of Alabama Press, 2005).

Dr. Bridwell-Bowles retired from LSU in 2017 as professor emerita, continuing to mentor students as she began a second career as an artist and potter. She was slated to become president of the Baton Rouge Art League this month.

After graduating as valedictorian of Kathleen High School in Lakeland, Florida, Dr. Bridwell-Bowles completed her undergraduate education at Florida State University. She received her doctorate in English from the University of Georgia.