Kowalski served as the inaugural director of the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC), established in 1984, at the University of Washington. Initially CPAC was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). It has since been renamed Center for Process Analysis and Control and has become self-sustaining. Writing for Analytical Chemistry, Alan Newman called CPAC the "brainchild" of Kowalski, who proposed the idea in 1982, and said in the field of analytical chemistry, "CPAC offers a unique model of how chemists can successfully forge bonds with industry, government, and allied academic disciplines to foster new ideas. At the same time, the center establishes a two-way flow of ideas between basic researchers in academia and scientists in industry and government."