United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal has served as UUP’s president since winning election in May 2013.
Under Kowal’s leadership, UUP has become a strong, politically influential organization in New York state. Central to this work has been Kowal’s insistence that UUP take on the role of offering innovative solutions to the challenges facing SUNY and communities across the state.
His New York HEALS (Healthcare, Education, Access, Leadership, Sustainability) is a bold, wide-ranging plan focused on securing full state funding of SUNY and its public teaching hospitals. The blueprint also promotes the health of all New Yorkers and brings attention to important issues such as combating climate change and support for racial and social justice.
Kowal strengthened the bonds between the union and its members during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, he spearheaded a program to provide UUP members on the front lines with hotel rooms near SUNY’s public hospitals and held a series of “Tele-town Hall” forums with members—the first time UUP has ever held such events. He directed the purchase of personal protective equipment for essential workers at SUNY’s hospitals, including 100,000 isolation gowns and thousands of N95 masks and Nitrile gloves.
In 2022, advocacy efforts led by Kowal resulted in securing bonus pay for SUNY health care workers on the frontlines of the pandemic, and hundreds of millions more in state funding for SUNY.
Moved to action by the tragic, racially motivated shooting in Buffalo in May 2022, Kowal initiated and later moderated a roundtable discussion on mental health equity and structural racism at SUNY Buffalo State College in October.
In 2020, Kowal strengthened the bonds between the union and its members during the coronavirus pandemic, spearheading a program to provide UUP members on the front lines with hotel rooms near SUNY’s public hospitals and holding a series of “Tele-town Hall” forums with members—the first time UUP has ever held such events. He directed the purchase of personal protective equipment for essential workers at SUNY’s hospitals, including 100,000 isolation gowns and thousands of N95 masks and Nitrile gloves.
Also that year, Kowal became the host of UUP’s podcast, “The Voice.” Under Kowal’s direction, the podcast has taken on important issues such as environmental justice and abortion rights.
In October 2013, Kowal was appointed as an American Federation of Teachers vice president. He also serves as an Executive Council member. Kowal was elected to the New York State United Teachers Board of Directors and the NYSUT Executive Committee in 2014.
He was elected to the New York AFL-CIO's Executive Council in 2022.
In April 2016, he was appointed to the National Wildlife Foundation’s Board of Directors. Kowal was appointed to the American Labor Studies Center’s Board of Directors in 2018. Kowal was honored with the ALSC’s Kate Mullany Award in 2017. He was also recognized by the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State for his work as a union leader in the cause of social justice.
Kowal was named to City & State's State Labor Power 100 list in 2022 and 2023. Kowal made the magazine's Higher Education Power 100 list in 2023 and 2021, and was chosen for its Upstate Power 100 list in 2021.
Kowal grew up in the mill town of Chicopee, Mass., the son of working class, unionist parents. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Western New England University, a master’s in economics at American University and a doctorate in political science from the University at Albany.
After completing his master’s degree, Kowal moved to Montana to work on the Flathead Indian Reservation. There, he was exposed to and joined in tribal fights to maintain sovereignty, to preserve wilderness areas in the Mission Mountains, and cultural traditions.
He returned to New York in 1986 and began his teaching career at SUNY Cobleskill. In 1995, Kowal developed Native American Studies courses that became an undergraduate minor.
Kowal joined UUP while at Cobleskill and became a leader at the chapter and statewide levels. He served as Cobleskill Chapter president from 1993 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2013. He was elected as statewide membership development officer from 1999 through 2001.
Kowal lives in Warnerville, NY with his wife, Cheryl Hamilton.