Dowdell was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Bishop Kelley High School.

Among his teammates are United States Senator Richard Burr and Charlie Crist, the former Governor of Florida.

[citation needed] He received his Juris Doctor in 1981 from the University of Tulsa College of Law.

He served as a law clerk for Judge William Judson Holloway, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 1981 to 1983.

[2] He was nominated to the seat vacated Judge Terence C. Kern, who assumed senior status in 2010.