Leslie Bowman

Leslie Greene Bowman is President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the home of Thomas Jefferson. She has spearheaded the Foundation’s vision to bring history forward into national and global dialogues — with a special emphasis on civic engagement, race and the legacies of slavery.

Believing that Monticello is an essential place to understand Jefferson’s timeless ideas and contributions to democracy, as well as the paradox of slavery in an age of liberty, Bowman has propelled major restorations, public dialogue, and educational programming to provide an honest, complicated and inclusive view of history — common ground for all Americans. Monticello has just completed a landmark five-year restoration of the upstairs rooms, and the landscape of slavery, including an exhibit on Sally Hemings. Bowman has served at the highest levels of the museum field, including service under four presidents on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.

She earned her Bachelor of Philosophy in American history and art history at Miami University, and her Master of Arts in Early American Culture as a Winterthur Fellow at the University of Delaware.