Mother, daughter receive doctoral degrees together

One Alabama family has a lot to celebrate. Patricia Roden and her daughter Miranda Roden Bowie each received a doctoral degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville Dec. 12. Roden graduated with a degree in computer science and Bowie in applied mathematics.

Roden, a member of First Baptist Church, Florence, in Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association, decided to go back to school in 2004 — more than 20 years after receiving her master’s degree in math education. She and Bowie did not think about graduating at the same time until a mutual professor told them it was a possibility.

“I always said I wanted to graduate before [Miranda],” Roden said. “I walked across the stage right before her.”

Now the two work in the same place, the University of North Alabama in Florence, where Bowie even took her mother’s old office. “It’s hard to believe that [God] has blessed me with an incredible daughter and experience,” Roden said.