George Malcolm Cowden (born December 29, 1930) is a Texas lawyer and politician who served in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

from 1963 to 1967, and was the second chairman of the

Public Utility Commission of Texas The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC or PUCT) is a state agency that regulates the state’s electric, water and telecommunication utilities, implements respective legislation, and offers customer assistance in resolving consumer complain ...

from 1978 to 1982.

Early life, education, and military service

Born in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Cowden "spent early years raising cattle and doing ranch work on the 21,500-acre spread his father ran near Pearsall".Jim Dolan,
Casual George Cowden moving to Austin
, ''San Antonio Express'' (January 13, 1976), p. 1, 4. After graduating from Pearsall High School in 1948, Cowden enrolled in John Tarleton Agricultural College in

Stephenville, Texas Stephenville is a city in and the county seat of Erath County, Texas, United States. It sits on the North Bosque River, which rises nearby. Founded in 1854, it is home to Tarleton State University. Located in north-central Texas, Stephenville' ...

, but "after one semester Cowden changed his mind and transferred to

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

", from which he received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1953.Sam Wood,
George Cowden Takes Oath for State Office
, ''The Waco News-Tribune'' (February 2, 1968), p. 5. Cowden then joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

as a lieutenant, during which time he "commanded a squadron based in Japan, a job usually held by a major". After serving for two years in the Air Force, he returned to Baylor, from which he received an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1959, thereafter entering the private practice of law.

Public service

Cowden represented

McLennan County, Texas McLennan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 260,579. Its county seat and largest city is Waco. The U.S. census 2024 county population estimate is 270,358. The county ...

, for two terms in the

, in the 58th Texas Legislature from January 8, 1963 to January 12, 1965, and in the 59th Texas Legislature from January 12, 1965 to December 31, 1966.Commission members consumer advocates
, ''The Waxahachie Daily Light'' (August 24, 1975), p. 6. He was elected to a third term in the 60th Texas Legislature in November 1966, but was never sworn in, as he instead resigned to assume the office of assistant attorney general, serving in that position under Texas Attorney General Crawford Martin, whose campaign Cowden had managed in 1966. On January 15, 1968, Governor

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Hi ...

appointed Cowden chairman of the Texas Board of Insurance. Following the election of Governor Preston Smith later that year, Cowden left public service for a position as general counsel and senior vice president of the Great American Reserve Insurance Co. Then, in August 1975, Governor

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election fo ...

named Cowden to the newly established

, along with William Garrett Morris and

Alan Erwin Alan Russell Erwin (September 4, 1944 – November 12, 2019) was a Texas public relations professional who served as chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas from 1983 to 1984. Early life, education, and career Born in Greenville, Te ...

Personal life and death

Cowden married Mollie Waldrop of Jackson, Tennessee, with whom he had four children. In 2012, Cowden's son Gordon was the oldest victim of the

2012 Aurora theater shooting On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film ''The Dark Knight Rises''. Dressed in tactical clothing, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes ...

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...

.One victim a Howard Payne graduate
, ''Abilene Reporter-News'' (July 24, 2012), p. 8A.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowden, George 1930 births Living people Tarleton State University alumni Baylor University alumni Members of the Texas House of Representatives Chairs of the Public Utility Commission of Texas Texas Democrats 20th-century members of the Texas Legislature