Over the past 35 years, Dr. Furst-Bowe has held a series of positions with increasing levels of responsibility. Most of her career was spent at the University of Wisconsin-Stout where Julie served as a tenured faculty member, department chair, associate vice chancellor and provost and vice chancellor for academic and student affairs. Since leaving UW-Stout, Julie has served as chancellor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and academic vice president at Chippewa Valley Technical College. After retiring in 2021, she has served in an interim role as academic vice president at Arkansas Tech University, as faculty affairs director at the University of Rochester and she is currently serving as academic vice president at Winona State University.

Julie is also a recognized speaker, consultant and writer on the topic of performance excellence in higher education. She has been a peer reviewer, team chair and mentor for the Higher Learning Commission for more than 20 years. She holds a doctorate in education and a certification in human resource development from the University of Minnesota. She also holds a master’s degree in instructional media technology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire