Robert E. Howard became President of the Greenville Tech Foundation in January 2008 and retired at the end of 2016.  Prior to this position he had a 30-year career with Bank of America and had served as Executive Director of the Greenville Symphony Association for 9 seasons.

 

A native of Greenville, Howard is a graduate of Davidson College and holds his MBA from Furman and Clemson and several banking degrees.  He is a graduate of Leadership Greenville and Leadership South Carolina.  He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service.

 

He has served on a number of non-profit boards and is a Past President of the Greenville Area Development Corporation, South Carolina Philharmonic, the South Carolina Nature Conservancy, the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, Leadership South Carolina, the Rose Ball and Trustus Theatre. 

 

He currently serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville Symphony Endowment and First Baptist Church Endowment.  He is a Trustee of Faith Memorial Chapel in Cedar Mountain, N.C. and a Deacon at First Baptist Church.  He founded and manages a military lecture series for the Poinsett Club and is on their Membership Committee.  He is a member of the Greenville Downtown Rotary Club and is a former Commissioner for the Greenville Water System.

 

He is a graduate of the Southeastern School of Auctioneering, the Professional Ringman’s Institute and is a licensed auctioneer.  He is an honor graduate of the Buckley School of Public Speaking and a graduate of Professional Santa Claus School in Denver, Colorado.

 

In 1999 Governor Hodges awarded him the Order of the Palmetto.  In 2010 the South Carolina Arts Commission awarded him the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award.  In 2017 Greenville High School added him to their Alumni Wall of Honor.

 

Howard is married and has one daughter.