A native of Virginia, Peggy holds a B.A. in Religion from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, an M.A. in Theology from St. Mary's University (San Antonio), and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University. Currently, Dr. Cowan serves as Chair of the Core Curriculum and Associate Professor of Religion at Maryville College.

Since 1996, Dr. Cowan has directed the Maryville Curriculum, an integrated, four-year General Education curriculum. A distinctive component of the curriculum is a three-term first-year seminar sequence required of all first-year students. She has extensive experience teaching first-year students, both in the first-year seminar sequence and in introductory biblical studies courses, also required first-year core courses.

Maryville College was one of the CIC Founding Institutions for the Foundations of Excellence in the First Year project. Dr. Cowan served as Maryville's liaison and Chair of the Foundations of Excellence Task Force. In 2005, she was appointed Convener for the First Year Experience Coordinating Group, a standing committee of faculty and staff, established by the President to oversee all aspects of the first-year experience at Maryville College.

From 2001-2004, Dr. Cowan participated with colleagues from three other institutions in a collaborative grant from the Appalachian College Association to develop interactive web-based resources for enhancing learning in religion classes. She has published work on teaching, the liberal arts, and the Reformed tradition and has presented aspects of the Maryville Curriculum and First-Year Experience at the National Conference on the First-Year Experience, the AAC&U General Education and Assessment Conference, and the Appalachian College Association's Summer Institute and Teaching and Learning Conference.