[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 175 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2482-E2483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING DR. JAMES E. OWEN, AN EDUCATOR HIS ENTIRE LIFE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Dr. James E. Owen whose professional education career has spanned 40 
years.
  Dr. Owen received his education at Jacksonville State Teachers 
College, the University of Alabama and Auburn University and began 
teaching in the Talladega (Alabama) City School System in 1949. His 
career was briefly interrupted while Dr. Owen was on active duty with 
the United States Army during the Korean Conflict. It was during his 
service at Camp

[[Page E2483]]

Chaffee, Arkansas, that Dr. Owen married Estelle Bain, who herself had 
a 39-year career in public education.
  After his active Army, Army Reserve and Alabama National Guard 
Service, Dr. Owen returned to Talladega, Alabama, and served as 
Principal of Dixon Junior High School and then of Benjamin Russell High 
School in Alexander City, Alabama. He also served as Assistant 
Principal of Southwest DeKalb High School in DeKalb County, Georgia; 
and then as a Staff Member of the Auburn University School of 
Education. In 1965, Dr. Owen was named Assistant Superintendent of the 
Anniston (Alabama) City School System and Superintendent of the Phenix 
City, Alabama, School System in 1968 to 1969. In 1976, Dr. Owen was 
named Assistant State Superintendent of Education by the Alabama State 
Board of Education and later as Alabama's first Deputy State 
Superintendent of Education. In 1980, the Alabama State Board of 
Education named Dr. Owen as President of Chattahoochee Valley State 
Community College in Phenix City, Alabama, a position he maintained for 
12 years until his retirement in 1992.
  During his career, Dr. Owen maintained membership in local, state and 
national professional education organizations such as the National 
Education Association, the Alabama Education Association, the Alabama 
Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of 
Secondary School Principals, the American Association of Community and 
Junior Colleges, and the Alabama Council of Community and Junior 
College Presidents of which he was President in 1985. After his 
retirement, he remained in Phenix City, being active in the Russell 
County and Alabama Retired Teachers Associations as well as other 
community affairs. Dr. Owen and his wife now live in Birmingham, 
Alabama.
  I salute Dr. Owen and his wife for their commitment to the education 
of the students of Alabama.

                          ____________________