Hall of Fame Member Biographies

Jo Rowan

Jo Rowan is a renowned and respected personage in places like Russia, China, and New York City. By contrast, she is relatively unknown in her adopted State of Oklahoma. A gifted author, ballerina, educator, choreographer, producer, and director, Rowan is co-founder and chairman of the dance department at Oklahoma City University. With her husband John Bedford, dean of the School of American Dance and Arts Management at OCU, Jo Rowan helped to establish a premier program in dance and the musical arts. Rowan’s productions draw rave revues, and her pupils can be found on Broadway and in most of the professional performing venues of the nation. Rowan was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2004.