In 1922, Bowen became a Fellow in Chemistry of University College, Oxford, succeeding R. B. Bourdillon, who was briefly Fellow in Chemistry at the College from 1919 to 1921, but who subsequently changed his field of interest from chemistry to medicine. Bowen also served as Domestic Bursar of University College and as Junior Proctor of Oxford University in 1936.[7]
Much of Bowen's research work was carried out at the Balliol-Trinity Laboratories in Oxford.[12][13] He was an accomplished glass blower for his chemical apparatus[1] and even produced artworks in glass.[14] His 1966 Liversidge Lecture on Fluorescence was based on his life's research. After retirement in June 1965, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of University College on 6 October 1965.[15] He was one of the longest serving Fellows of that college (43 years as an ordinary Fellow and a total of 59 years). There is a room in the college named after him. He was also a prominent Worcester Old Elizabethan serving on its Committee for many years and organising the Oxford branch of that club.
Bowen lived for most of his working life in Park Town[24] and is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, north of Oxford. Bowen was married to Edith née Moule and they had a son (also a chemist) and a daughter. He died on 19 November 1980 after a short illness.[7]
Bowen room
The room at University College that Bowen used was subsequently named the 'Bowen room'.[25] It was used by Emeritus Fellows of the college and later occupied by Prof. Ruth Chang.[26] Bowen's papers (1931–1980) are held by the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford.[27][28]
^Williams, Robert J. P.; Chapman, Allan; Rowlinson, John S., eds. (2009). Chemistry at Oxford: A History from 1600 to 2005. UK: RSC Publishing. pp. 132, 139, 146–153, 163, 191, 200, 219, 227, 231, 243. ISBN978-0-85404-139-8.
^Wright, J. K. (1986). "A new look at the stratigraphy, sedimentology and ammonite fauna of the Corallian Group (Oxfordian) of south Dorset". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 97 (1): 1–21. Bibcode:1986PrGA...97....1W. doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(86)80001-3.
^ abcSymonds, Ann Spokes (1997). "Families: The Bowens". The Changing Faces of North Oxford: Book One. Robert Boyd Publications. pp. 81–83. ISBN978-1-899536-25-2.