Barb Bowers

Barbara Bowers is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Nursing. She is the faculty director of the Center for Aging Research and Education, Director of the qualitative and mixed methods research resources and Director of the Clinical and Community Outcomes Research Certificate program for the Community Academic Partnerships/Institute Clinical and Translational Research. Professor Bowers’ research has focused on workforce development and models of care in settings serving older adults and people with lifetime disabilities. She has served on many state and federal work groups related to quality improvement and workforce development in long term care. Professor Bowers earned her undergraduate degree in Nursing at the University of Michigan, a Master’s degree in nursing from Wayne State University in Detroit, and a PhD from the University of California-San Francisco. Prior to entering graduate school, she worked as a nurse practitioner in geriatrics. She initiated the WINRS project with a grant from the federal government in the hope of creating a strong connection between faculty researchers and community members while making research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison more beneficial to the larger community. “The opportunity to work so closely with and learn from people in our community has been wonderful. I am convinced that the quality and usefulness of our research has benefited tremendously from the skilled and thoughtful input of so many.”