The award is

named for Lewis Cenker, who served as the president of the National Association

of Home Builders in 1974. Cenker is the only Atlantan to have served in

this office.

Cowan grew

up in Cartersville and graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in business

management. His major business interests in the past were real estate

development and corporate finance.

One of the

founders of Peachtree City, Cowan served as the city's first mayor beginning

in 1959. He was also chief executive officer of its development company

through 1976.

Cowan also

developed Phipps Plaza shopping center in Atlanta as well as Palmetto

Dunes in Hilton Head, S.C.

He was former

Gov. Joe Frank Harris' honorary chief of staff for two terms. He served

in various unpaid capacities under Gov. Harris, including the Board of

Regents of the University System of Georgia, chairman of the Governor's

Growth Strategies Commission and chairman of the board of the Department

of Community Affairs. He was the founding chairman of the Georgia Regional

Transportation Authority (GRTA) as well as the Governor's Development

Council.

He is currently

chairman of the Fayette Community Foundation and a member of the board

of The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta. He is a former trustee

of The Georgia Conservancy, former trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation,

former chairman of the board of Rabun Gap Nacoochee School, a former director

and vice chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Central Atlanta

Progress.

He has also

served as a member of the Georgia State University College of Law advisory

board, Ivan Allen College Advisory Board of Georgia Tech, Olympic Environmental

Support Group, Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission and Planning

Advisory Council of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

For the last

several years his primary interests have involved working in the emerging

economies of Eastern Europe, Russia and China. He currently has an active

presence in China, focusing on home building, e-commerce and merchant

banking. He recently privatized a Chinese company which was active in

low-cost housing and is now its chairman and majority owner.

He is a director

of World Airways Inc. and a former director of Interstate General Company,

Continental Airlines, and IRT Property Company.

Cowan has three

grown children and five grandchildren. He and his wife Geraldine have

lived in Peachtree City since 1959 and attend First Presbyterian Church.

Gov. Roy Barnes

appointed Cowan in June as chairman of the Metropolitan North Georgia

Water Planning District.

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