LSU Law Center Professor Emeritus James Winfield Bowers passed away Thursday, May 8, 2014, in Bristol, Virginia. Professor Bowers taught at the Law Center for 30 years before joining the faculty at Appalachian School of Law when his wife, former LSU Law Center Professor Lucy McGough, was appointed Dean in 2012.
“It seems as if it were only a few months ago that Professor Bowers was among us, smiling, teaching his classes and participating actively in the life of the school despite the difficult health challenge he was facing,” said LSU Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss. “I wish to express our collective heartfelt condolences to Dean McGough and the entire Bowers family on their loss, which is deeply felt by our entire LSU Law community.”
During his three decade career at the Law Center, Professor Bowers taught numerous courses including Bankruptcy, Contracts, Uniform Commercial Code-Sales, Louisiana Mortgage Law, and a Legal Scholarship Seminar.
Professor Bowers was a Montana native. He received his B.A. in 1964 from Yale University and his LL.B. in 1967 from Yale Law School. After Army service in Vietnam, he practiced law in St. Paul, Minnesota, became a part-time teacher at a night law school located in St. Paul, and in 1978, became a full-time law professor at Texas Tech Law School in Lubbock. Professor Bowers joined the Law Center faculty in 1982 as a Visiting Professor and joined the faculty full-time in 1983.