Bob Cowell

WDBJ7 reports Roanoke City officials will announce Bob Cowell as the new City Manager today, succeeding Chris Morrill. Cowell is currently Deputy City Manager in Amarillo, Texas, and he has a past tie to our region, having earned a Masters Degree at the University of Tennessee.

(Continue reading for Cowell’s biography on the Amarillo, Texas web site.)

Bob Cowell was promoted to deputy city manager in early December 2015. Prior to his promotion, he served as assistant city manager for Development Services by providing oversight of approximately 700 employees in 14 departmental operations. He has been actively involved in streamlining and enhancing Amarillo’s development and growth processes and services. Cowell came to Amarillo from the City of College Station, where he served as executive director of Planning and Development Services. Before that he was planning director for the Monroe County Planning Commission in Bloomington, Indiana. Cowell also is a visiting assistant professor of practice in Texas A&M University’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. He earned his master’s degree in Urban Planning with a specialization in land use from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics, Specialization in Administration from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, an accredited member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and a credentialed Manager Candidate through the International City/County Management Association.