WKU’s first lady, Harriet Downing, turns 100!
BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-One of the first ladies of Western Kentucky University, Harriet Downing, is turning 100 years old today!
Family is celebrating her milestone at her family home.
Harriet met Dero Downing, her husband who played basketball for Coach Diddle, three days after starting classes as a student at WKU in 1941. The rest is history.
Dero Downing was president of WKU from 1969 until 1979. Harriet’s granddaughter says that being WKU’s first lady for those 10 years was probably her biggest accomplishment. She was also awarded the Woman of Achievement Award from the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission.
