Eric Mower and Judy Cotey were elected to the student court at Syracuse University in 1965. They had their first date on Marshall Street and were married in Hendricks Chapel.

Now, the SU power couple serves on the university’s Board of Trustees and recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. Since meeting at Syracuse University, Eric and Judy Mower have become pivotal figures in the university’s growth and development.

The Mowers are the only current husband-wife duo serving on the university’s Board of Trustees. They’re also only the second trustee couple in SU’s history — the first couple on the board was William and Eloise Nottingham, who graduated in the late 1880s, Judy said.

“We couldn’t be more different in terms of background,” Judy said of she and her husband. Eric is originally from New York City, but she grew up in a small town.

Syracuse brought them together. The pair met while serving on student court. Eric served as chief justice and Judy served as associate chief justice.

When one of Eric’s sisters was coming up for a visit and needed a place to stay, he asked Judy if she could put her up in her sorority house. After requesting a place for his sister, he also asked Judy out on a date.

For their first date, the Mowers went where many Syracuse couples find themselves: on Marshall Street. Eric recalled taking Judy to a bar and dancing the night away with his future wife.

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Both Eric and Judy received their undergraduate degrees in the late ‘60s. After earning his first degree in 1966, Eric stayed at SU to earn his master’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Once she finished her first degree in 1966, Judy began teaching science at a nearby high school. The two got married in May the following year, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary last spring.

From there, the newlyweds further pursued their career goals, each contributing their respective skills to the Syracuse area. Eric joined a local advertising agency as an account executive in 1968, a year after he and Judy got married in Hendricks Chapel. In 1980 he bought the company and it became Eric Mower and Associates, per Syracuse.com.

EMA has seen success with Eric as its head, consistently ranking among the top advertising agencies in central New York.

Judy, after taking three years of maternity leave, went back to SU part-time and received a master’s degree in psychology. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in social psychology from Syracuse in 1984.

Judy became an organizational management consultant, working with multiple nonprofit boards and companies. She spent more time in the classroom as an adjunct professor, teaching a course in organizational development in the Maxwell School’s public administration department.

The Mowers have kept up their involvement at their alma mater — both are currently members of various committees on the university’s Board of Trustees. Eric has been on the board since 1989 and serves on the Newhouse Advisory Board, the facilities committee, the academic affairs committee and the advancement and external affairs committee.

He also received the Arents Award in 2015 — SU’s highest alumni honor — for his achievements in advertising and public relations.

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Judy serves on the Board of Trustees as well as the centennial planning committee, the student affairs committee, the chancellor search committee and the academic affairs committee. She also proudly holds the position of chair of the university Library Advisory Board, she said.

“I wanted to work for something that benefits the university as a whole,” Judy said. “I wanted to support something where the university as a whole is benefited. The libraries are important places.”

Judy also coordinates periodic meetings with other local trustees. She has the group meet with particular deans or faculty members so that she and her colleagues can better understand university affairs.

The couple stressed that their contributions to SU are just a small part of the many donations SU receives, and they are happy to help.

“I wouldn’t call it a labor of love because it’s certainly not a labor for the university. It’s more of an affection,” Eric said. “It’s a great institution, not just on how it affects our lives but how it has affected the lives of millions of others.”

For Eric, his and Judy’s lives wouldn’t be the same without SU.

“Syracuse University changed our lives profoundly,” Eric said. “We would not have found each other if it were not for Syracuse. I don’t know what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t gone to there, but I wouldn’t have met someone as wonderful as my wife.”

Published on February 14, 2018 at 12:26 am

Contact Amy: abnakamu@syr.edu