Dr. Sonia S. Cowen
Chief Academic Officer, Leadership
Consultant and Trainer
For more than 30 years, Dr. Sonia S. Cowen has been in the faculty and administrative leadership of colleges and universities in ten states across the US. She has been the chief academic officer of three statewide higher education governing or coordinating boards, and either the chief or vice chief academic officer of two colleges and one doctoral-granting research university.
Dr. Cowen also served as a national instructor for the US Air Force, tasked with instructing officers in leadership and communications as a part of the Strategic Air Command’s professional development program for Air Force officers. Through her own consulting company, Dr. Cowen contracted with several national higher education organizations on matters of national leadership policy and legislation. She has delivered and published juried papers at numerous international conferences regarding the physical architecture that contributes ideally to the development of simulation-modeling and visualization in serious gaming for military and civilian operations.
Prior to joining Cottey College last year as the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership and Social Responsibility, Dr. Cowen served as business faculty for New Mexico State University, as leadership faculty for the U.S. Department of State’s International Law Enforcement Academy, and as the LTG Robert Beckel Endowed Chair and founding Director of the Daniels Leadership Center at the New Mexico Military Institute. She earned a BA in English from Eastern Washington University, a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. is in leadership from Gonzaga University.