Ron Leory Kowalke was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art educator born in Chicago. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, but earned his BA from Rockford University in 1959. He received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1960. He taught at Northern Illinois University and the Swain School of Design before joining the faculty of the University of Hawaii. He taught in Hawaii from 1969 until his retirement as a professor emeritus in 2000.
