Liz Bower — College of the Liberal Arts

'97 History

According to Elizabeth “Liz” Bower, a 1997 Penn State history alumna, engagement is vital to success.

While at Penn State, Bower was involved in a variety of activities and organizations that helped her achieve what she has today. She worked in the Undergraduate Student Government Student Affairs office as a student advocate, in addition to completing a work-study program through the Department of English. Bower also served as a board member in the Pre-Law Society. These experiences as a student provided her with many opportunities to engage with administration, faculty, and other students.

“Demonstrate intellectual curiosity in all you do,” Bower said. “Performing your tasks is critically important but approaching it only in a task-oriented manner—like you are checking boxes—sends a message that you are only there to do a job and are not interested in the health of the organization.”

Bower’s liberal arts education helped her build the skills she now employs daily.

“Critical thinking, analysis, reading comprehension, and effective writing are all core components of what I do every day, and the foundation of those skills was established during my liberal arts training at Penn State,” Bower said.

After graduating from Penn State, Bower earned her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2001 and the Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age certificate from HarvardX in 2018.

Currently, she is a partner in the Defense Litigation Department and co-chair of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Group. She specializes in complex commercial litigation and investigations, with a focus on accounting, data privacy, and security matters. Bower was recently highly commended in the “Gender Diversity Lawyer of the Year” category at the 2019 Chambers Diversity and Inclusion Awards.

Bower remains an active College of the Liberal Arts alumna, serving as a mentor in the Liberal Arts Alumni Mentor Program. She said she wants to share her experiences with current students, to help them create their own successful futures.

“Our paths are carved by those who came before us,” Bower said. “Learning about our predecessors’ experiences and hearing about their mistakes and rebounds provides not only guidance on how to do things right, but also the confidence to know that you too can succeed.”

Bower participated in the Penn State Women: Leaders of Today and Tomorrow events held September 25–26, 2019.