An accomplished businessman, Rhodes Scholar and retired Air Force reserve lieutenant colonel, Dr. Christopher B. Howard has moved his institution forward by integrating his prior military experience into his role as the eighth president of Robert Morris University, a private institution in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
“Even though the military is involved with everything from nation-building to kinetic strikes on enemy forces, it really is, ironically, a people business, a people-driven organization,” he says. “A lot of it has to do with human capital development.”
At RMU, Howard, 49, – one of higher education’s youngest presidents – has committed to doubling the number of military veterans enrolled and he works to make the university a place that promotes students’ holistic well-being.
Translating his military experience to higher education, Howard notes that he has tried to be someone who leads the institution with integrity just as leaders in the military do.
“You want your airmen to become senior airmen, your lieutenants to become captains,” Howard adds on the commitment to individuals’ development. “The corollary in the academic world is that you want your freshman to become sophomores, sophomores [to] become juniors, assistant professors to become associate professors, directors to become VPs, on down the line.”
The college presidency was not always in sight for Howard, who says he only knew that he wanted to help and serve people growing up. His career aspirations moved between wanting to initially become a fireman, a civil rights attorney, and then ultimately, a military officer.
The path to Howard’s higher education leadership pursuits began when his professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy Colonel Walter Hitchcock and Lieutenant General Michelle D. Johnson encouraged him to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship.
