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BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION:
Loewer was born in Arkansas and grew up in the eastern Arkansas farming community of Fair Oaks in Cross County. He is a Wynne High School graduate and his engineering degrees are in agricultural engineering from LSU (BS, 1968; MS, 1970) and Purdue University (PhD, 1973). In addition, he obtained a MS degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University in 1980 while on sabbatical leave and has a Certificate from the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute for completion of its course of study (2005). His technical specialization is systems analysis and computer modeling of biological, agricultural, engineering and economic systems. Loewer was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and is a registered professional engineer. He is also very active in a number of professional and civic organizations and has been an invited speaker at many settings both in the United States and internationally.
ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE:
Loewer’s research was in grain processing and storage systems and in the computer simulation of plant and animal physiology as related to grazing systems. His teaching was in computer modeling and in engineering ethics. His work with farmers and related industry led to the publication of a textbook and many software packages distributed worldwide.
Loewer was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky (1973-1985) as an extension engineer and researcher. He was head of the departments of biological & agricultural engineering at the University of Arkansas (1985-92) and the University of Florida (1992-96).
For six years (1996-2002), Loewer served as the Dean of the University of Arkansas College of Engineering, the only comprehensive college of engineering in Arkansas. The College was then a $27 million enterprise with over 100 faculty and approximately 650 full and part time employees and ranked among the top 50 U.S. public engineering colleges in many areas according to statistics from the American Society of Engineering Education. The College was also administered the GENESIS Technology Incubator within its Engineering Research Center. During his time as dean, the College of Engineering set records in external and private gift support, and experienced a six fold increase in the space occupied by companies in its GENESIS Technology Incubator. Loewer also chaired the committee that led to the creation of the Arkansas Research and Technology Park.
During his career, Loewer has obtained over $5 million in external support as principle or co-principle investigator, and has published over 320 professional articles including one major textbook.
On July 1, 2002, Loewer became the founding director of the University of Arkansas Economic Development Institute.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
Loewer is a member of the LSU College of Engineering Hall of Distinction (2008) and served as President of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) in 2005-2006 [ASABE has approximately 9000 members, over 20 percent international, representing over 100 countries.] He has also been selected as “Communicator of Year” by the northwest Arkansas chapter of the Public Relations Society (2004); designated an outstanding graduate by the Purdue Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (2004); received the “Arkansas Engineer of the Year Award” from the Arkansas chapter of National Society of Professional Engineers (1997); named Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (1996); and has received a number of awards for publications in research, extension and economic development.
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