Harold "Doc" Howe was a part of the brain trust (Frank Keppel, Dean, Harvard's Graduate School of Education and Edward Meade, Jr., Program Officer, The Ford Foundation) that thought up and obtained support for the program activities that evolved into the Institute for Educational Leadership. Some ten years later, "Doc" agreed to serve as the Chair of the IEL Board of Directors. In accepting the chairmanship, "Doc" said: "Leadership is an elusive quality that reaches beyond the skills and knowledge of the expert to involve elements of judgment and commitment to difficult and sometimes impossible tasks." "Doc" Howe practiced a brand of leadership that was at once value-based and valued-added.

He was committed to excellence and equity and to all children getting a fair shake. A teacher, a superintendent, the first U.S. Commissioner of Education to implement the federal elementary and secondary education act, and a foundation official - he used all of these posts to obtain new perspectives on the issues and to figure out new ways to achieve the twin goals of integrating American education and ensuring that all children received an excellent education. He was an unassuming man, but he was not shy about sharing his thoughts with the powerful. Long after he retired from Harvard's Graduate School of Education, the "Doc" Howe by-line could be seen in the nation's finest journals and/or newspapers.

We are indebted to "Doc" for helping to create IEL. However, we believe we speak for the nation when we say we are indebted to "Doc" for being a courageous leader with all the right values who was committed to difficult and sometimes impossible tasks.

Learn more about new fellowship launched by the American Youth Policy Forum in honor of "Doc's" contributions to American education: http://www.aypf.org/whatsnew.htm.