Mary Jean Bowman was born to mother Mary K. Kauffman and father Harold Martin Bowman on October 17, 1908, in
New York City. She was raised in
Newton Centre, Massachusetts. She graduated
Phi Beta Kappa from
Vassar College in 1930. She received her
Master of Arts degree from
Radcliffe College two years later and her
Ph.D. from
Harvard University in 1938. She relocated to
Chicago,
Illinois with her husband,
C. Arnold Anderson, in 1949. The two were married on July 18, 1942, in
Iowa City, Iowa. Together they had one child, Lloyd Barr. Dr. Bowman died at home in
Hyde Park on June 4, 2002. ==Career==