Artis G. Hampshire-Cowan, Esq.

Senior Vice President and Secretary
Howard University
Washington, DC

Supporting the University’s renewed and aggressive research agenda, Artis Hampshire-Cowan is currently leading the effort to expand and develop the University’s North Research Campus in Beltsville, Maryland.  As Senior Vice President and Secretary at Howard University, Ms. Hampshire-Cowan serves as corporate secretary of the University; manages the affairs of Howard's Board of Trustees; and for over a decade, planned and managed all official functions of the University, including Opening Convocation, Charter Day, and Commencement. For seven years, she performed a dual role as Vice President for Human Resource Management which provided executive oversight of human resource management for a workforce of over 5,000.  She also served as Acting President of the University. 

Ms. Hampshire-Cowan is a sought-after speaker and trainer.  Her training specialties include organizational development, leadership, managing change, diversity, board development, and strategic deployment.  She has provided training for boards of directors and executive management in higher education, business, government, and nonprofit community-based organizations, including:   National Association of Women Business Owners, Executive Business Women, National Black MBA Association, National Bar Association, National Medical Association, Junior League of Washington, the Urban League, D.C. Chamber of Commerce, United States Office of Personnel Management, and Department of Home Land Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development.  She is a graduate of the Stephen Covey Leadership Center and is a certified trainer for the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Principle Centered Leadership, and First Things First. 

After graduating with honors from Morris Brown College with a degree in Business Management, Ms. Hampshire-Cowan entered Temple University Law Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earning a Juris Doctor degree.  She subsequently served as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia and relocated to Washington, DC, where she started her career of more than twelve years with the government of the District of Columbia. 

Her career with the District Government included service as a Congressional lobbyist, attorney-advisor, and consumer and regulatory enforcement administrator.  She held such positions as Congressional lobbyist with the Office of Intergovernmental Relations; Chief of the Office of Compliance at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; Historic Preservation Development Expert; Senior Advisor/Attorney Advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and City Administrator; and General Counsel at R.F.K. Stadium, where she served as in-house counsel and the chief negotiator for several sports initiatives including the Redskins/District proposal to construct a new Redskins stadium in the District of Columbia.  She served as special counsel to Prince George's County Executive Wayne Curry regarding successful negotiations to relocate the Redskins to the Maryland suburbs. 

Additionally, she is one who gives back to the community.  She is very active in numerous civic and professional organizations, including:

• 2010 Prince George’s Suite Top 100 “Who’s Who of Prince George’s County”
• 2010 “Who’s Who in Black Washington, DC”
• 2009 Washingtonian Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women
• 2008 Women Who Mean Business Award by the Washington Business Journal
• 2007 Power 150—People Who Make Things Happen Award by the Washingtonian Magazine
• Member, Women’s Advisory Board of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital
• Member, Board of Directors, Girls, Inc.
• Member, Board of Directors, Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP)
• Member, Women’s Forum of Washington, D.C.
• Member, Board of Directors, Maryland State Women’s Heritage Foundation
• Member, Prince George's County Public Schools Business Advisory Committee
• Member, Board of Trustees, Morris Brown College Foundation, Inc.
• Former president of Leadership Greater Washington (a consortium of individuals from government, not-for-profit, and private sector who network to address local and regional concerns)
• Founding Board member and former president of Bright Beginnings, Inc. (a developmental day-care center for preschool age homeless children)
• Member, American Society of Corporate Secretaries
• Member, Society for Human Resource Management
• Former member, Presidential Rank Review Board (OPM)
• Member, Department of State 2006 Foreign Service Selection Board
• Member, American Bar Association, National Bar Association, Washington Bar Association, and District of Columbia Bar Association
• Former Member, Board of Directors, Women of Washington
• Former member, Board of Directors, The National Conference of Christians and Jews
• Former member, Executive Committee of the Washington Board of Trade
• Member, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Co-Chair of the 2003 National 90^th Anniversary  celebration
• Member, The Links, Inc.
• Sustained Member, Junior League of Washington
• Co-Chaired Prince George's County Executive's 1994 and 1998 Education Transition Committee
• Served as Prince George's County Executive 1993 appointee on Superintendent Selection Committee
• Appointed by Governor Glendening as Chairperson, Management Oversight Panel, Prince George’s County Public Schools in 1998
• Former Commissioner, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC)
• Former President, Board of Directors, Prince George’s Community Foundation

A native of Mobile, Alabama, Mrs. Hampshire-Cowan currently resides in Mitchellville, Maryland, with her husband, Ernest.  They have two children, Carri—a 2009 Howard University Bachelor of Business Administration--Finance graduate, magna cum laude, and Ernest, Jr.—a 2010 HU Bachelor of Arts--Communications graduate.