Christopher B. Howard

DR. CHRISTOPHER B. HOWARD, the 24th President of Hampden-Sydney College, is one of the youngest college presidents in the United States. Hampden-Sydney, a private, liberal arts college for men, has been in continuous operation since classes began in 1775 on its historic campus 60 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia.

Dr. Howard is a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy, where he earned a BS in political science. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned his Doctorate in politics at Oxford University and an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School. At the Academy he received the Campbell Award (previously known as the Draddy Award), the highest academic award in the country presented to a senior football player; he was inducted into the Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2003.

Before his appointment as President of Hampden-Sydney College in 2009, Dr. Howard served as Vice President for Leadership & Strategic Initiatives at the University of Oklahoma, where he also served as the Director of the Honors College Leadership Center and a President’s Associates Presidential Professor.

Dr. Howard was named a 2010 African-American Trailblazer in Virginia History by the Library of Virginia. He was featured in an Associated Press story published by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Times, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among numerous others.

Dr. Howard was the subject of separate articles in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Dallas Morning News, and Diverse Issues in Higher Education. He was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and interviewed on CNN, PBS, and PRI.

Currently he is:

• A founder, former chairman, and current trustee of the Impact Young Lives Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarship and travel opportunities for South African university students of color.
• A Senior Advisor on African Affairs at the Albright Stonebridge Group, an international advisory firm for Fortune 1000 companies.
• A member of the National Council of Advisors of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1965. The Center is the only organization that systematically examines past successes and failures of the Presidency and relates its findings to present challenges and opportunities.
• An Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow. The Aspen Institute fosters values-based leadership and provides a neutral and balanced venue to discuss and act on critical issues.
• A graduate of the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents.
• A member and noted expert on the millennial generation, management, and leadership for the International Speakers Bureau.
• One of the few college or university chief executives in the US invited to join Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

In areas related to education,

• Nominated by President Barak Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as a member of the National Security Education Program Board.
• A member of the Higher Education Working Group on Global Issues of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
• A trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.
• A member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges of Virginia
• On the Board of The Fessenden School, a K-9 Boarding and Day School for Boys in West Newton, Massachusetts
• On the Board of Advisors of the David L. Boren College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma
• A former trustee of The Association of American Rhodes Scholars.

In areas related to business,

• Dr. Howard has co-authored a new book with David Snider, Money Makers: Inside the New World of Finance and Business.
• He is a member of the OLO Systems Advisory Board and was formerly on the Board of Directors of Converge, an IT de-manufacturing firm.
• He served as the youngest member of the annual Washington Post—Harvard University “America’s Best Leaders” selection committee.
• He served in General Electric’s Corporate Initiatives Group.
• He has worked in sales, marketing, international project management, strategic planning, internal consulting, and business development at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
• He has also served as the acting Managing Director of Endeavor South Africa, a global initiative that supports entrepreneurs in the developing world.
• Dr. Howard is a regular guest on Ali Velshi’s CNN television program, where he participates via Skype in roundtable discussion and commentary as a member of the “Stream Team.”

In the military,

• An Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, he was called to active duty during 2003 in Afghanistan, where he was awarded a Bronze Star.
• He serves as the Reserve Air Attaché to Liberia.
• While on active duty, Howard served as intelligence operations and plans officer with the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) 

Personal

He is married to the former Miss Barbara Noble from Johannesburg, South Africa, and has two sons, Cohen and Joshua.