John A. Howard*

A thoughtful, deeply religious man, John Howard's values and aspirations were shaped by his mother, who raised three sons. He contributed to the cost of his education at Princeton with jobs during the summer and the school year.

When he left to serve in World War II, Howard's mother tucked a note into his pocket, which concluded with this advice: "None of us knows what is in store for us in this life, but one thing is certain: If we live according to the highest ideals of our faith, we will have used well the time allotted to us." He served in the First Infantry Division and was under fire most of the time from D-Day in 1944 to VE Day in 1945. He earned two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, and a battlefield commission.

After receiving his graduate degrees at Northwestern, Howard became an instructor at Palos Verdes College, where his salary was $50 a week. Four years later, he was named president of the college. In 1956, Howard was enlisted as the executive vice chairman of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Government Committee, which was chaired by Vice President Richard Nixon. As such, he supervised the first program to open jobs to qualified minorities.

In 1960, Howard was named president of Rockford College, where he headed fundraising for and construction of a new campus to which the college moved in 1964. Illustrative of the dynamic educational program under Howard's leadership were three nine-day art festivals that received national prominence.

In 1976, Howard founded the Rockford College Institute to combat the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. In 1997, he co-founded the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society. Howard lectured at many educational institutions including Oxford, Princeton, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin, and he wrote several books including Detoxifying the Culture and Christianity: Life Blood of America's Free Society (1620-1945).