Overview Isaiah Bowman, fifth president of The Johns Hopkins University and geographer, was born in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, December 26, 1878. The Isaiah Bowman papers offer a fairly complete view of his many-faceted professional life, and Bowman's service as an advisor to the U.S. government and U.S. State Department, particularly in relation to World War I and II, are well-documented in the papers. The papers span from 1902 to 1950.