[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S335-S336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. JOHN CHOWNING

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a good friend 
of mine and a friend to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dr. John 
Chowning, who served as the vice president for church and external 
relations and executive assistant to the president at Campbellsville 
University, has recently retired from that post after more than a 
quarter century with that institution. I know he is going to be greatly 
missed by his colleagues, by the higher education community across the 
State, and by all of us who work on and care about education issues.
  Dr. Chowning first became involved in fundraising for Campbellsville 
University in 1989. He became a member of the university's board of 
trustees in 1992. He served on that board for 7 years, including 
service as board chair. Then he became a full-time employee in 1998. He 
taught at the school for several years as an adjunct in the political 
science department and served as chair of the university's diversity 
committee, strategic planning, and university council.
  In his various roles throughout the years, Dr. Chowning has taken the 
lead or been a major influence on several important issues. He 
established a dialogue on race to foster racial reconciliation. He led 
Greater Campbellsville United, an organization that strives to create 
opportunity for all residents of the Campbellsville-Taylor County 
region. He helped found the Campbellsville-Taylor County Economic 
Development Authority and served as its chairman.
  Working with the Economic Development Authority, he led the way to 
create a dislocated worker program in Campbellsville when a factory in 
the region closed and caused jobs to leave the area. And I am proud of 
the work he and I did together to help create the university's 
Technology Training Center, a partnership with local governments and 
Campbellsville University to provide training to the local workforce.
  The list of people who are congratulating Dr. Chowning on a 
remarkable career of service is long, and I am proud to add my name to 
that list. I am pleased by the fact that Dr. Chowning will remain on in 
a part-time capacity so Campbellsville University and the Commonwealth 
can continue to reap the benefit of his knowledge, wisdom, and 
experience. I want to wish him and his family the very best as he 
begins this new chapter.

[[Page S336]]

  A local publication, the Greensburg Record-Herald, recently published 
an article extoling Dr. Chowning's life of accomplishment. I ask 
unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           [From the Greensburg Record-Herald, Dec. 23, 2015]

          CU's John Chowning Announces Retirement as of Jan. 1

                           (By Joan McKinney)

       Dr. John Chowning, vice president for church and external 
     relations and executive assistant to the president at 
     Campbellsville University and a former chair and board member 
     of the Campbellsville University Board of Trustees, has 
     announced his retirement effective Jan. 1, 2016.
       Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of Campbellsville 
     University, with whom Chowning worked for 17 years, said, 
     ``John Chowning is one of the most gifted individuals I have 
     ever met. He is a great thinker, and he is wise in his 
     approach to topics across a broad spectrum.
       ``John is a very good writer, an accomplished speaker, 
     teacher and preacher. He is detailed and is a well-read 
     public policy analyst on a broad array of topics.
       ``We will miss him on a day-to-day basis, but we are so 
     fortunate he is serving in a new part-time role for the 
     university.''
       Chowning is retiring after 26 years of service to 
     Campbellsville University. However, he will continue to work 
     part time as executive assistant to the president for 
     government, community and constituent relations beginning in 
     January 2016.
       Chowning became involved in fundraising with Campbellsville 
     University in 1989 and became a member of the university's 
     Board of Trustees in 1992.
       He continued on the board for the next seven years, serving 
     as chair in 1996 and 1997. He became a full-time employee in 
     February 1998.
       Dr. Joseph L. Owens, who is serving his fifth term as chair 
     of the Campbellsville University Board of Trustees, said, 
     ``Dr. John Chowning is a shining example of selfless service 
     that has made a difference in many lives at Campbellsville 
     University. He is highly motivated, personable and a spirit-
     filled man of God.
       ``His love for the Lord is exemplified in his Christ-like 
     character, as well as his concern for excelling in diversity, 
     diplomacy and the development of bridge-building 
     relationships.''
       Serving as executive vice president for church and external 
     relations and executive assistant to the president has been 
     ``a very humbling and rewarding career path in which God's 
     divine guidance has been evident in the progress CU has 
     seen,'' Chowning said.
       He taught as an adjunct for several years in Campbellsville 
     University's political science department. He has served as 
     chair of the university's diversity committee, strategic 
     planning and University Council.
       Chowning founded and has directed the Kentucky Heartland 
     Institute on Public Policy at Campbellsville University which 
     has hosted a wide array of speakers and forums on a host of 
     public policy issues.
       Chowning has been involved in many endeavors at 
     Campbellsville University including race reconciliation, and 
     establishing Dialogue on Race, a project dear to his heart. 
     He has served as a leader of Greater Campbellsville United, 
     the focus of which is to help create an environment of 
     equality and opportunity for all residents of Campbellsville-
     Taylor County and the heartland region of Kentucky.
       Chowning was one of the founding members of Team Taylor 
     County (Campbellsville-Taylor County Economic Development 
     Authority) and served for several years as chair and 
     continues as a member of the board.
       He received the Governor's Development Leadership Award in 
     1999 and was named Citizen of the Year for Campbellsville-
     Taylor County two separate years by the Campbellsville-Taylor 
     County Chamber of Commerce.
       Chowning was founding member of the Center for Rural 
     Development and former chair; founding member of the Southern 
     Kentucky Economic Development Corporation and former chair; 
     and founding member and former board member and secretary of 
     Forward in the Fifth education reform group.
       With his work with the Economic Development Authority in 
     Campbellsville, he was instrumental in organizing a 
     dislocated worker program at Campbellsville when Fruit of the 
     Loom closed in Campbellsville in 1997-98.
       With the support of CU presidents Dr. Ken Winters and 
     Carter, Chowning proposed the university's Technology 
     Training Center and coordinated efforts to secure funding for 
     the project by working with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
       Chowning has left his mark on Campbellsville University 
     with the naming of the Pence-Chowning Art Gallery, the 
     Chowning Art Shop, the Chowning Executive Dining Room and the 
     Chowning Patio.
       He and his wife, Cathy Pence Chowning, have established an 
     endowed scholarship fund at Campbellsville University that 
     provides annual scholarship awards to qualifying minority 
     students.
       In his role as a pastor, Chowning is an active member and 
     former secretary of Taylor County Ministerial Association and 
     is a member of the executive boards of Taylor County Baptist 
     Association and Zion District Association of Baptists.
       He has led his church, Saloma Baptist Church of which he 
     has served as senior pastor since 1994, to become a member of 
     the General Association of Baptists in Kentucky, the state's 
     historic black Baptist state convention--one of two 
     historically Anglo Baptist churches to join the GABKY. He has 
     been active in the life of the GABKY for the past several 
     years.
       Chowning has a master's of public administration (planning 
     emphasis) from Eastern Kentucky University; a bachelor of 
     arts in political science from Transylvania University, and 
     an associate of arts from Lindsey Wilson College.
       ``From serving as trustee chair and vice chair and two 
     terms as a board member to the past 18 years in my current 
     role, my association with Campbellsville University has been 
     one of the most rewarding and meaningful affiliations of my 
     career,'' Chowning said.

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