Barrett Bowdre - John Jay Fellow, Fall 2010
The greatest strength of the John Jay Institute is the constellation of alumni spread throughout government, education, business, churches, and every corner of civil society. There, they build on what was forged in their fellowship, imbuing a preserving (and sometimes disruptive) grace into our institutions.
Last fall, one particular alumnus found his state knocking, and he was ready to answer the call. On November 5, 2025, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced his appointment of Barrett Bowdre (John Jay, Fall 2010) as Solicitor General of Alabama. In his statement, General Marshall emphasized:
“The rule of law could not ask for a more capable or principled advocate. Barrett was a driving force behind Alabama’s landmark success in exposing and dismantling the massive medical, legal, and political scandal that sought to normalize sex-change procedures for minors. His tireless work to protect vulnerable children has safeguarded families in Alabama and sparked a reckoning within the global medical establishment.”
Barrett Bowdre entered the John Jay Fellowship upon concluding his studies at Furman University, where he earned a B.A. in political science. Bowdre credits the John Jay Fellowship with helping him find his vocation as a lawyer. He was deeply influenced by the Institute’s focus on character and citizenship, engaging not only matters of the mind in intellectual debates, but also matters of the heart.
“After I completed John Jay, I worked for a few years at a think tank in D.C. and had a blast; the work was fun, and it was a great introduction to the life of public intellectuals. But I felt called to work that was a bit more tangible in how it serves people,” Bowdre reflects. In this spirit, he entered the University of Alabama School of Law, where he earned a J.D. summa cum laude. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to three federal judges. Then he joined the Attorney General’s Office, serving as Deputy Solicitor General, and later Principal Deputy Solicitor General, until his appointment as the Solicitor General.
The Solicitor General of Alabama serves as the State’s chief appellate lawyer, overseeing litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alabama Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, while helping coordinate the Attorney General’s broader legal strategy. He also works closely with other state Solicitors General and Attorneys General to defend common interests in multistate litigation.
Bowdre considers his current work as fitting into the larger mission of the John Jay Institute, which he remembers fondly. “Appellate work is fairly solitary, primarily reading and writing (much like my days at the Institute!). It has been very rewarding to defend laws that help protect human flourishing, or to represent the interests of crime victims in the pursuit of justice. And since my work touches on these big questions—what is justice? What is the role of law?—I am very appreciative that my time at John Jay helped provide a solid foundation for thinking through these questions.”
That calling has persisted since Bowdre was a fellow in 2010. Today, the Institute is carrying on the same mission with yet another generation of young Christians and leaders of the future, building philosophical and spiritual groundwork from which they can find a way of their own in the journey to rebuild and renew society.