James W. Bowden, Sr. is the son and sixth child of the late Bessie and Grady Bowden. Mr. Bowden was reared in Great Falls, SC, graduating from Great Falls High School (Class of 1968) as one of the first African American students enrolled in the segregated school system under the Freedom of Choice, or Free Transfer plan. His parents encouraged him to believe in God, value education and scholarship, and avail himself of every opportunity to succeed and become a self-reliant and productive citizen. Access to post-secondary education would result in him leaving his close-knit family and familiar enclave to matriculate at Denmark Technical College.
Mr. Bowden graduated from Denmark Technical College in 1972 and in 1993 with degrees in electronics technology and industrial technology, respectively. Both degrees are attributed to his stellar employment career. Additional academic preparation (business classes at Benedict and Limestone Colleges) proved beneficial to his success in workforce management.
After graduating from Denmark Tech and amidst the backdrop of the civil rights era and the reign of southern white superiority, Mr. Bowden secured employment as a substation operator in the power delivery department and dispelled the innate myths associated with a Black man’s inability to learn the mechanics to operate the division of the company known as the “brains” of the company. The year was 1972, and the company, Duke Power, would evolve into Duke Energy, the Fortune 150 electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Since Duke Power’s inception in 1905, no Black man had occupied a “seat at the table” before a display board of mechanisms as a substation operator in the Power Delivery Operations Department, monitoring the distribution of electrical power to hundreds of industrial companies whose productivity was dependent upon an uninterrupted flow of electricity through its electrical systems. Mr. Bowden’s employment in this position heralded a change in policy and is recorded in Duke Power’s archival repository.
Mr. Bowden’s professional career with Duke Energy spanned 42 years, and his historical genesis accounts are inclusive of promotions in top-level management positions as Operating Superintendent; Power Delivery Manager; General Manager of Power Delivery Operations, overseeing the operation, modification, and maintenance of Duke Energy’s transmission system in a region serving over 900,000 customers, 300 employees and as the manager of annual budgets exceeding millions of dollars. At the pinnacle of his career, Mr. Bowden served as the first African American Vice President (Field Operations and Maintenance).
As Mr. Bowden occupied “new” seats at the table in the Board Room , there was always a “silent investor” in the room. A small rural HBCU, Denmark Technical College, sat silently but with a boisterous presence. Denmark Tech’s investment in this student-learner of electronics technology and industrial technology accrued great dividends, allowing him to sit among engineers from major colleges like Clemson University and North Carolina State University.
In retrospect, degrees from these institutions did not professionally advance Duke Energy’s engineers farther than Denmark Technical College had prepared Mr. Bowden to advance, as he supervised many of these graduates. As the quintessential representative for Denmark Tech, Mr. Bowden proudly acknowledged his love for his alma mater and unabashedly acquainted many of his colleagues with the small rural HBCU located in Denmark, SC.
There are no traditional letters behind Mr. Bowden’s name to distinguish him in academia as an erudite man. However, the lack of this distinction did not impede his success in Corporate America. More so, the letters before his name (Mr.) brought him acclaim and an introduction into spaces once reserved for white men in Corporate America, but there Mr. Bowden sat. His thirst for knowledge invigorated his fervor for a professional career with Duke Energy, insulating the phenomenological accounts of his life’s trajectory, reaching excellence in his profession.
It is duly noted that Mr. Bowden is the third generation of Bowdens employed with Duke Energy. The power of loyalty, characterized by continuous service, extends to both his grandfather, Mr. John Bowden (1905) and his father, Mr. Grady Bowden (1941), and expands a total of 105 years when Mr. James W. Bowden, Sr. retired in 2010. Duke Energy provided these generations of men, especially Mr. Bowden, with livelihoods that gave them economic self-sufficiency, better opportunities, as well as a comfortable lifestyle that most Black men in the South had not experienced.
Mr. Bowden is married to the former Brenda Washington, a retired public-school educator for 35 years. Together, they are the parents of one son, James W. Bowden, Jr. ( Stacey), a District Manager for Frito Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo in Charlotte, NC, and an entrepreneur with investments in real estate; a daughter (former Duke Energy employee/4th generation Bowden Duke Energy employee) Kirsten Bowden Williams, Esq., Executive Vice President, Chief Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Officer for District of Columbia Water, Washington, DC. Mr. Bowden is the proud grandfather of four grandsons, James-David (JD), Jaylon, Gabriel, and Mikail.
Retirement affords Mr. Bowden lots of time to golf. He especially enjoys playing when he shoots the same score as the weather, a “72.” However, when duty calls Mr. Bowden to Denmark Tech, he is never hesitant to travel I 77 S (in excess of 2 hours) to don the hat of a Denmark Technical College Area Commissioner; president of the Denmark Technical College Alumni Association; a supportive alumnus, unwavering, after over five decades.
Mr. Bowden is committed to the educational advancement of African American students and works tirelessly (without fanfare or personal gain), remembering the role Denmark Tech fostered in the success of his life. He is especially devoted to nurturing African American males, as fully illustrated by helping to establish the lineworker training program at Denmark Tech and by mentoring students who might not have considered career paths in the energy industry.
Mr. Bowden leaves an indelible mark (into perpetuity) in the annals of Denmark Technical College, with the James W. Bowden, Sr. Electrical Lineworker Range on the campus of his beloved alma mater. The Range is a testament to the opportunities the utility industry can provide and the hope for a more prosperous and life-changing future for generations of Denmark Tech students.
