Charles T. McDowell
Encyclopedia
Charles Taylor McDowell (November 23, 1921 - July 8, 2007) was professor
emeritus
and former director of the Center for Post-Soviet and Eastern European Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington
, and a member of the Military Science Hall of Honor. Prior to founding and becoming director of the Center for Post Soviet and Eastern European Studies, McDowell served as Assistant to the President and Dean of Student Life at the University during the late 1960s, which saw the Rebel Theme Controversy and attempts by the Students for a Democratic Society
to establish a chapter on campus. He was the first chair of the UT Arlington Faculty Senate, a position to which he was re-elected six times.
At UT Arlington, McDowell has been regularly cited as one of the most popular professors among students and has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards.
and various government agencies. After graduating from Texas A&M University
(then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical college of Texas) and the Officer Candidate School
at Fort Benning
, Georgia
, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Infantry in the U. S. Army. After commissioning, McDowell was assigned to teach in the Army Specialized Training Program
(ASTP) at Fort Benning. He then attended the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, and, after completion, was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and the 11th Airborne Division. He also served with the 97th Infantry Division in Europe. His early assignments included command positions from Platoon
Leader to Battalion
Commander
. As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, McDowell participated in Operation Market Garden
, jumping behind enemy lines and engaging objectives in Nijmegen and Arnhem
.
During later assignments McDowell was a professor at Tokyo Army College
(1946–1948) and was commandant
and director of the College (1947–1948). While serving as Director of the Tokyo Army College, McDowell was sent by General Douglas MacArthur
to recruit Japanese-French woodblock print artist Paul Jacoulet
-- who had been in seclusion in Karuizawa -- to the college. General MacArthur and Commandant McDowell became avid collectors of Jacoulet woodblock prints.
From 1947 to 1949, he was Information and Education Officer for the Eighth U.S. Army and later the 82nd Airborne Division. From 1955 to 1958 he was a Professor of Russian language
, history, economics, geography, and political science in a classified joint military/civilian intelligence agency and Chief of the research division from 1956 to 1958. In 1959, McDowell was an Instructor for the Command and General Staff College
in Taiwan
, Japan
, Korea
, and Hawaii
, where he taught U.S. military forces about nuclear weapons.
McDowell is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute
, the Foreign Area Specialist Program, the Defense Intelligence Course, the Armed Forces Staff College, the Command and General Staff College
, and a two year Soviet-East Europe Advanced Foreign Area Studies Program at the doctoral level as one of a small number of State Department, military, and intelligence agency personnel selected to participate in the program known as Detachment R
. He received a BS degree from Texas A&M University
, an MA from Columbia University
in 1953 and in 1956 a PhD from Texas A&M University
. McDowell retired as a Colonel
.
, he left the University to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff
, where he was Intelligence Officer
of the Airborne Command Post, a job that often involved flying with the President of the United States
and his senior staff to evaluate foreign military threats and provide mobile control of U.S. nuclear forces. In this role, McDowell was the custodian of the Nuclear Football
, which is used by the President of the United States to authorize the use of nuclear weapons while away from fixed command centers.
McDowell is a Master Combat Parachutist and has been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge
. Other decorations include the Bronze Star
with Oak Leaf Cluster
and Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the American Defense Service Medal
, American Campaign Medal
, European Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
, WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal
, Korean Service Medal
, and the United Nations Medal
. McDowell has served as a Diplomatic courier
and USSR Specialist, as well as a Foreign Service Officer
for the State Department in the former Soviet Union
, Europe
, Asia
, and North Africa
.
He was Senior Area Administrator for Lyndon Johnson's Job Corps
program, which entailed supervision of all centers in the United States between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains.
At the request of President Jack Woolf
of UT Arlington, McDowell returned to the University in 1966 to serve as Assistant to the President and, from 1967 to 1969, as Dean of Student Life. He later became the director of the Center for Post-Soviet and Eastern European Studies and the Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics. McDowell was the first chairman of the Faculty Senate at the University of Texas at Arlington and was re-elected to that position on four subsequent occasions. He served as faculty sponsor of Alpha Phi Omega
, Alpha Chi Honor Society, the Soviet and East European Club, and the Student Congress. He was honored for his teaching, advising, and mentoring of students with multiple awards, including the AMOCO Award as Outstanding Teacher (now Chancellor's Council Award), Best Academic Advisor, Best Advisor of Student Organizations, and four nominations as UT Arlington's candidate for the Piper Award for Outstanding Teaching.
, where they hosted some of the first delegations from behind the Iron Curtain
to the United States during the Cold War
era. The McDowells had two children, Charles Patrick McDowell, a Vice President at Goodrich Corporation
, and Kathy McDowell Stewart (deceased), an attorney who worked in various positions with the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency
's Directorate of Operations and Office of General Counsel. Stewart is the namesake of the CIA's Kathy Stewart Award
, the highest honor that can be awarded to a staff member in the CIA's Office of General Counsel.
During the past quarter century, McDowell has made numerous contributions to print and televised media concerning the Soviet Union
, People's Republic of China
, and subjects related to Eastern Europe
. Dr. McDowell is an author and co-author of many articles, documents, and books, including classified government documents concerning the Soviet Union. He is also author of numerous book reviews published by the Dallas Morning News. He has served as either chief translator or as editor on projects conducting non-classified technical, industrial, scientific and literary translations both from English
to Russian
and from Russian to English.
unveiled a permanent exhibit on Dr. McDowell's life. During the ceremony, San Saba Mayor Ken Jordan presented a proclamation of the City Council designating May 17 "Charles Taylor McDowell day."
The University of Texas at Arlington
has begun work to develop the Charles T. McDowell Center for Critical Languages and Area Studies, which will build on the Center for Post Soviet and Eastern European Studies to include other regions of strategic importance to the United States.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
and former director of the Center for Post-Soviet and Eastern European Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
, and a member of the Military Science Hall of Honor. Prior to founding and becoming director of the Center for Post Soviet and Eastern European Studies, McDowell served as Assistant to the President and Dean of Student Life at the University during the late 1960s, which saw the Rebel Theme Controversy and attempts by the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
to establish a chapter on campus. He was the first chair of the UT Arlington Faculty Senate, a position to which he was re-elected six times.
At UT Arlington, McDowell has been regularly cited as one of the most popular professors among students and has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards.
Military career
Prior to his academic career, McDowell led a long and distinguished career with the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and various government agencies. After graduating from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
(then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical college of Texas) and the Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
at Fort Benning
Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Infantry in the U. S. Army. After commissioning, McDowell was assigned to teach in the Army Specialized Training Program
Army Specialized Training Program
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills...
(ASTP) at Fort Benning. He then attended the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, and, after completion, was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and the 11th Airborne Division. He also served with the 97th Infantry Division in Europe. His early assignments included command positions from Platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
Leader to Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
. As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, McDowell participated in Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
, jumping behind enemy lines and engaging objectives in Nijmegen and Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
.
During later assignments McDowell was a professor at Tokyo Army College
Tokyo Army College
The Tokyo Army College was established by the Eighth U.S. Army during its occupation of Japan and became a center of educational and cultural activities for members of the occupational forces and Japanese citizens alike.From 1947 to 1948, the Tokyo Army College was led by Captain Charles T...
(1946–1948) and was commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
and director of the College (1947–1948). While serving as Director of the Tokyo Army College, McDowell was sent by General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
to recruit Japanese-French woodblock print artist Paul Jacoulet
Paul Jacoulet
Paul Jacoulet was a French, Japan-based woodblock print artist known for a style that mixed the traditional ukiyo-e style and techniques developed by the artist himself.- Biography :...
-- who had been in seclusion in Karuizawa -- to the college. General MacArthur and Commandant McDowell became avid collectors of Jacoulet woodblock prints.
From 1947 to 1949, he was Information and Education Officer for the Eighth U.S. Army and later the 82nd Airborne Division. From 1955 to 1958 he was a Professor of Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, history, economics, geography, and political science in a classified joint military/civilian intelligence agency and Chief of the research division from 1956 to 1958. In 1959, McDowell was an Instructor for the Command and General Staff College
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as a...
in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, where he taught U.S. military forces about nuclear weapons.
McDowell is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute
Defense Language Institute
The Defense Language Institute is a United States Department of Defense educational and research institution, which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies and numerous and varied other customers...
, the Foreign Area Specialist Program, the Defense Intelligence Course, the Armed Forces Staff College, the Command and General Staff College
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as a...
, and a two year Soviet-East Europe Advanced Foreign Area Studies Program at the doctoral level as one of a small number of State Department, military, and intelligence agency personnel selected to participate in the program known as Detachment R
Detachment R
Detachment R was a special U.S. Army School initially located in a former Wehrmacht garrison in Oberammergau and later moved to Regensburg, Germany, where it remained from 1950 to 1954, when it was moved back to Oberammergau.The school operated as the two-year final component of the Army's Foreign...
. He received a BS degree from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, an MA from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1953 and in 1956 a PhD from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. McDowell retired as a Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
.
At UT Arlington
McDowell joined the University of Texas at Arlington (then Arlington State College) in 1959 as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics. After being promoted to Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
, he left the University to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
, where he was Intelligence Officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
of the Airborne Command Post, a job that often involved flying with the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and his senior staff to evaluate foreign military threats and provide mobile control of U.S. nuclear forces. In this role, McDowell was the custodian of the Nuclear Football
Nuclear Football
The nuclear football is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States of America to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room...
, which is used by the President of the United States to authorize the use of nuclear weapons while away from fixed command centers.
McDowell is a Master Combat Parachutist and has been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge
Combat Infantryman Badge
The Combat Infantryman Badge is the U.S. Army combat service recognition decoration awarded to soldiers—enlisted men and officers holding colonel rank or below, who personally fought in active ground combat while an assigned member of either an infantry or a Special Forces unit, of brigade size...
. Other decorations include the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
with Oak Leaf Cluster
Oak leaf cluster
An oak leaf cluster is a common device which is placed on U.S. Army and Air Force awards and decorations to denote those who have received more than one bestowal of a particular decoration. The number of oak leaf clusters typically indicates the number of subsequent awards of the decoration...
and Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the American Defense Service Medal
American Defense Service Medal
The American Defense Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military, recognizing service before America’s entry into the Second World War but during the initial years of the European conflict.-Criteria:...
, American Campaign Medal
American Campaign Medal
The American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
, European Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was...
, WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
The Army of Occupation Medal is a military award of the United States military which was established by the United States War Department on 5 April 1946. The medal was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to recognize those who had performed occupation service in either Germany or Japan...
, Korean Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
The Korean Service Medal is an award of the United States military and was created in November 1950 by executive order of President Harry Truman. The Korean Service Medal is the primary United States medal for participation in the Korean War and is awarded to any U.S. service member, who...
, and the United Nations Medal
United Nations Medal
The term United Nations Medal refers to one of several international decorations which are issued by the United Nations to the various militaries of the world for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief...
. McDowell has served as a Diplomatic courier
Diplomatic courier
A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and detention when performing their work...
and USSR Specialist, as well as a Foreign Service Officer
Foreign Service Officer
A Foreign Service Officer is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic...
for the State Department in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.
He was Senior Area Administrator for Lyndon Johnson's Job Corps
Job Corps
Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free-of-charge education and vocational training to youth ages 16 to 24.-Mission and purpose:...
program, which entailed supervision of all centers in the United States between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains.
At the request of President Jack Woolf
Jack Woolf
Jack Royce Woolf is President Emeritus of the University of Texas at Arlington. He served the University from 1957, when he became Dean of Engineering, until 1989, when he retired. After serving as Dean of Engineering, Woolf became acting President in 1958 and President in 1960...
of UT Arlington, McDowell returned to the University in 1966 to serve as Assistant to the President and, from 1967 to 1969, as Dean of Student Life. He later became the director of the Center for Post-Soviet and Eastern European Studies and the Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics. McDowell was the first chairman of the Faculty Senate at the University of Texas at Arlington and was re-elected to that position on four subsequent occasions. He served as faculty sponsor of Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members...
, Alpha Chi Honor Society, the Soviet and East European Club, and the Student Congress. He was honored for his teaching, advising, and mentoring of students with multiple awards, including the AMOCO Award as Outstanding Teacher (now Chancellor's Council Award), Best Academic Advisor, Best Advisor of Student Organizations, and four nominations as UT Arlington's candidate for the Piper Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Back in Texas
After returning to Texas, Charles and Mary Frances McDowell built a home on a tract of land in Arlington, TexasArlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, where they hosted some of the first delegations from behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
to the United States during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era. The McDowells had two children, Charles Patrick McDowell, a Vice President at Goodrich Corporation
Goodrich Corporation
The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...
, and Kathy McDowell Stewart (deceased), an attorney who worked in various positions with the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's Directorate of Operations and Office of General Counsel. Stewart is the namesake of the CIA's Kathy Stewart Award
Kathy Stewart Award
The Kathy Stewart Award is the highest honor bestowed in the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of General Counsel. The award, named for former CIA and State Department official Cynthia Kathleen Stewart , honors an employee "who reflects the highest standards of dedication to service, commitment...
, the highest honor that can be awarded to a staff member in the CIA's Office of General Counsel.
During the past quarter century, McDowell has made numerous contributions to print and televised media concerning the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, and subjects related to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. Dr. McDowell is an author and co-author of many articles, documents, and books, including classified government documents concerning the Soviet Union. He is also author of numerous book reviews published by the Dallas Morning News. He has served as either chief translator or as editor on projects conducting non-classified technical, industrial, scientific and literary translations both from English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
to Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and from Russian to English.
Posthumous honors
On May 17, 2009, the San Saba Historical Museum in San Saba County, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
unveiled a permanent exhibit on Dr. McDowell's life. During the ceremony, San Saba Mayor Ken Jordan presented a proclamation of the City Council designating May 17 "Charles Taylor McDowell day."
The University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...
has begun work to develop the Charles T. McDowell Center for Critical Languages and Area Studies, which will build on the Center for Post Soviet and Eastern European Studies to include other regions of strategic importance to the United States.