Andrea Cowan was born and raised near Buffalo, New York but moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico for college. After receiving her Bachelor's degree in Education, Andrea went on to receive her Master's degree in Education from the University of Arizona in 1970. She and her husband studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1972 and 1973 and went on to start the first Center for Transcendental Meditation in Fresno, California where Andrea served as Chairman. In 1976, they returned to Las Cruces to start the Transcendental Meditation Program which covers all of southern New Mexico and west Texas. She is the only active TM teacher for this area. In her 50 plus years of teaching TM, Andrea had the honor of being invited to the Four Corners area of New Mexico to teach a special TM course on the Navaho Reservation. Andrea Cowan was given a special award in July 2025 for teaching TM to over 2000 people.