Gary Bowman received his bachelor’s of science degree from the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1980. Immediately after graduation he went to work for the Arlington County Department of Public Works designing streets, highways, and utilities. In 1982 he joined the firm of Urban Engineering and Associates where he spent 13 years progressing from design engineer to principal engineer in charge of numerous large planned communities and transportation projects.



In 1995, Bowman founded Bowman Consulting as a small firm focused on planning and design of residential communities and related infrastructure throughout Northern Virginia. Over the past 18 years, the firm has grown steadily into a 400-person firm with 20 offices across nine states serving the, oil and gas, mining, and transportation industries as well as its traditional core market of urban land development. Bowman Consulting has been recognized for its rapid growth on numerous occasions by Inc. Magazine, Virginia Business Magazine, the Washington Business Journal and the Zweig Newsletter. The firm currently ranks as a top 250 firm on the ENR list of the 500 largest design firms in the US.



Bowman has assumed a number of professional leadership positions throughout his career. He has served as the past chairman of both the Engineers and Surveyors Institute and the Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development. He has served on the Via Department’s Alumni Advisory Board and co-chaired the Land Development Design Initiative Advisory Board. These leadership roles are just one example of Bowman’s dedication to the advancement of the department and education as a whole.



In his nomination for the Distinguished Alumni Award, Dr. Randy Dymond, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering wrote, “I have interacted with Gary over the last six years as he has been a strong supporter of the Land Development Design Initiative (LDDI) and his firm continues to grow and hire more VT CEE graduates. He has been active with the LDDI Advisory Board, Co-Chairing it for a period. It is clear that Gary has a passion for his employees, for the land development profession, and for Virginia Tech. Gary’s continual support has shown through his company and his own personal involvement.”



Bowman is a lifelong resident of Fairfax County. His wife Terri and their son, Gregory, are both Hokies as well.