Advisory Council

Jerry Bowen attended Iowa State University from 1965 to 1968, has been a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles since 1979.

He reports primarily for the CBS Evening News, contributes to other CBS News broadcasts and also delivers profiles of celebrated and not-so-celebrated Americans for CBS News Sunday Morning.

Bowen has covered most major stories in the west over the past two decades, including California earthquakes, Arizona floods, the O.J. Simpson trials, and the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots.

During the 1980s, Bowen reported on Mexican and Caribbean affairs. He also covered the overthrow of Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, the student revolt in Tiananmen Square and the opening of Siberia’s gulag system after the fall of Communism.

Domestically, Bowen reported on Ronald Reagan's successful Presidential campaign and the 1980, 1984 and 1988 political conventions, as well as the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Prior to his Los Angeles assignment, Bowen was a correspondent in CBS News' Rome bureau from 1977 to 1979 where he provided extensive coverage of the Middle East. Bowen reported on Papal affairs, including the death of Pope Paul and the elections of Pope John Paul I and John Paul II, and covered the birth of the world's first test tube baby in England.

He joined CBS News in April 1977 as a reporter in its Chicago bureau, and is the recipient of three Emmy Awards.

He has expressed interest in answering questions about electronic media and advising students with jobs and internships.