Kate Rowan is a summa cum laude graduate of American University and Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she was an editor on the Law Review.

Following law school, Rowan clerked for the Hon. Paul S. Diamond, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Hon. Maryanne T. Barry, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rowan then joined the Philadelphia law firm Schnader Harrison Segal and Lewis, where she concentrated her practice in commercial litigation and appellate advocacy.

Rowan has taught courses at UB since 2013, including Literature and the Law; Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating; Introduction to U.S. Legal Research and Writing for LLM students; and, since 2017, in the law school's legal writing program.