Thomas Blanchard Stowell (1846–1927) was a distinguished American educator.
Stowell was born on March 29, 1846 in Perry, New York. In 1865, at the age of 19, he graduated from Genesee College (now Syracuse University). He went on to earn a Master's degree in 1868 and a Ph.D. in 1881 from the same institution.
After graduating from college in 1865, he became principal of the Addison Academy in Addison, New York. One year later, he was in charge of the Academic Department of the Union School in Morrisville, New York. The next year he was a professor of mathematics at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. The year after he was principal of Morris High School in Leavenworth, Kansas.
In 1869 Stowell became the Chair of Natural Sciences at the new (founded 1868) Cortland State Normal School in Cortland, New York, now known as the State University of New York at Cortland. After having just held four jobs in four years, he stayed at Cortland for 20 years.
Stowell left Cortland in 1889 to become the principal of the Potsdam Normal School in Potsdam, New York, now known as the State University of New York at Potsdam. He remained at Potsdam for another 20 years. In 1909 he was awarded an honorary LL.D. from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.
In 1909 Stowell left Potsdam to become the founding chair of the new Department of Education in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Southern California (USC). In 1918 USC established its School of Education, and Stowell became the founding dean of the school.