"What is Leadership?"

March 31, 2008 at 7 p.m.
College for Distance Learning
Doris A. Howell, ’44, M.D.

Park University graduate Doris A. Howell, M.D., an internationally recognized expert in pediatrics and hospice care, will discuss and describe different types of leadership, who the leaders are and what it takes to become a leader. Howell’s pervasive humanitarian outreach engages those who want to succeed.

Howell is devoted to improving the lives of others. A pediatric hematologist/oncologist, she was a faculty member at the Harvard University School of Medicine and the Duke University School of Medicine, and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. In 1974 she joined the faculty at the University of California, San Diego, Medical School and chaired the Department of Community and Family Medicine.

When first introduced to the hospice concept in 1968, Howell immediately embraced this radical departure from the established way of dealing with the dying and their families. Serving on the San Diego Hospice Board of Directors since its inception, she soon became a driving force for San Diego Hospice, now a model recognized throughout the nation. She was elected director emerita in 1989.

Upon her formal retirement, Dr. Howell began to focus on the critical need to improve women's health care and research. She and concerned members of Soroptimist International of La Jolla (Calif.) began awarding research grants to young scholars. In 1995, the Soroptimists honored Dr. Howell by establishing a foundation in her name (www.howellfoundation.org). She remains a vital force in realizing the goals of the foundation in her honor.

During the lecture, Howell will be honored by Park University and its Presidential Leadership Program for Women Faculty as a "distinguished alumna" for inspiring women to define and pursue leadership excellence.