The 2007 - 2008 Annual Fund
for the Advancement of Bowen Theory

December, 2007

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

“Science is built up with facts, as a house
is with stones. But a collection of facts is no
more science than a heap of stones is a house.”

This quote from the writings of French physicist and philosopher of science, Henri Poincaré highlights what is so incredibly important about Murray Bowen’s contributions. Bowen is among an elite group of researchers and thinkers who have been able to gather facts about the natural world and organize those facts into an important and useful theory. The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family exists to build on Bowen’s theoretical work and to improve and extend its applications to families, businesses, and communities. This is the mission I am asking you to support.

The work we do would not be possible without a sustained commitment from you. The generous gifts to the Annual Fund for the Advancement of Bowen Theory do much to contribute to the support the Center’s initiatives, outreach, and operating costs. This year there is much to report and I want to begin with some very good news. An extremely generous donor will be matching every dollar that is donated to our Annual Fund this year.  This means that if you meet or exceed your contribution from last year your investment in the Center’s work will double. This will allow us to move much more quickly on reaching our goals and to better provision financial resources for the future.

Murray Bowen did not like using superlatives, but I find them hard to avoid in describing the past year. The Spring Conference and the Annual Symposium were truly two of our best. They beautifully illustrate the progress being made towards viable contact with the accepted sciences and towards refining and applying Bowen theory both to the family and to areas extending well beyond the family. In September, the Center launched a web casting initiative that will continue to grow. Some Center meetings, such as the Thursday Professional meeting, are now regularly available “live” to people living at a distance from Washington. Another piece of our outreach effort is the television series, Family Matters. The shows are currently broadcast locally, but will be available soon in other cities. Our relationship with the University of the District of Columbia coupled with the faculty’s willingness to donate time make this series possible. Training programs, the journal, and clinical services remain at the core of our activities. Progress is continuing on transferring the Bowen audiovisual collection to the National Library of Medicine and in restoring and preserving the teaching videotapes that remain at the Center. The infrastructure for moving the theory into the future is growing and becoming ever more solid. 

Bowen theory is inherently hopeful about the future of mankind and our planet. The Annual Fund enables the Center to continue to launch and maintain initiatives that counter the prevailing cause-and-effect, mainstream thinking in society. A family recently was leaving my office and the wife turned to her husband and said, “He seems to get it.” Yes, I get it, but, most importantly, theory gets it. If you can help the Center fulfill its mission, it would be, as always, greatly appreciated.

 

Best regards,

 

Michael E. Kerr, M.D.
Director