Gregory L. Fowler ’68 PhD

Gregory L. Fowler ’68 PhD, of Lake Oswego, Ore.; Sept. 19, from complications of Parkinson’s. After Brown, he moved to Oregon for postdoctoral studies at the University of Oregon, where he researched the genetics and biology of drosophila. After a Humboldt Fellowship took him to the University of Düsseldorf in Germany, he returned to Oregon in 1976 to teach at Southern Oregon University as a professor of biology, and later he was also the founder and director of the Churchill Scholars honors program there. He received grants from the National Institutes of Health, Fulbright, Department of Energy, Collins Medical Trust, and other funders to support his work and collaborations with researchers at the City of Hope, UC San Francisco, the University of Turku (Finland), and at Dartmouth. He retired in 1998 and created Geneforum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting dialogue on genetics, ethics, and values. Geneforum took part in the state’s debate on genetic privacy, culminating in the passage of the country’s first law to protect an individual’s rights in genetic information. He was an affiliate associate professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and a senior research associate in the School of Community Health at Portland State University. He was also a Chautauqua Scholar of the Oregon Council for the Humanities, where he worked annually with high school students and traveled to communities throughout the state to lead public discussions on the societal implications of genetics. He was most proud of his work developing a curriculum for science teachers called Genomics for Everyone. Years of classical piano training in his youth laid the foundation for his lifelong passion for music. He was a bass baritone singer and soloed with the Catholic University Choral Society and Orchestra while in Washington, D.C.; with the Chamber Music Society of Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf; and at the Sibelius Museum in Finland. He was a guest soloist with the Rogue Valley Chorale and made numerous solo and ensemble recital appearances at the Britt Music & Arts Festival. He sang in the Rogue Valley Opera productions of La Traviata and Pagliacci. He founded Chamber Music Concerts in Ashland, overseeing 15 seasons as the organization’s artistic director. He enjoyed the outdoors and worked as a ranger in Glacier National Park in his earlier years. Among his favorite activities were cross country skiing and backpacking in Oregon. He is survived by his wife, Janet; two sons, including Alexander ’91; four grandchildren; a sister; and two nephews.