Craig William Bowen, assistant for special projects to the Old Dominion University chief operating officer, died June 15, 2014, while visiting in Deland, Fla. He was 50.

Bowen joined ODU in January 2013 and immediately was thrust as an analyst and adviser into several of the university's most prominent projects, including the development of the Campus Master Plan that was approved by the Board of Visitors in December 2013.

"Dr. Bowen made significant and lasting contributions to Old Dominion during his short time here," said David Harnage, the COO. "His wealth of experience, general intelligence and data analysis skills were called upon often as we formulated our 20-year Campus Master Plan, and more recently he had contributed to the planning of an ODU Center for Economic Development." That center is envisioned as the home of the Monarch Business Innovation Gateway and five other units that carry out the university's economic development initiatives.

Harnage, who had known Bowen since the two of them worked together 15 years ago at Towson University in Maryland, added, "He was a friend and a good man. I will miss him."

Bowen was born in Daytona Beach, Fla., the son of Joan Anderson Bowen and the late Lawrence Bowen.

He received a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Science Education from Florida State University in 1993, an M.B.A. in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University in 2005, an M.S. in both Educational Studies and Chemistry from Purdue University, in 1989 and 1988 respectively, and a B.S. in Chemistry from Emory University in 1985.

Before joining ODU, he has been associate director of institutional planning and research at the University of Florida. Prior to that, he was an IPEDS survey director and research scientist at the U.S. Department of Education Center for Educational Statistics.

His survivors include his wife, Patricia Metz; mother, Joan Bowen, of Deland; sister, Pamela Joan Bowen, of East Palatka, Fla.; brother and sister-in-law, Lawrence Scott Bowen and Vicky Bowen, of Deland; and brother-in-law and partner, Robert Metz and Ken Pruszynski, of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Bowen was fond of dogs and had been a volunteer at SPCA in Baltimore. The family asks that any donation in his memory go to an animal welfare organization. Plans for a memorial service are incomplete.

More information is available at http://www.lankfordfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Craig-Bowen/#!/TributeWall.