Friends, colleagues  reflect on Dr. Scott Howard’s life

Known by many throughout Lawrence County, Dr. Scott Howard unexpectedly died on Sunday, though the impact that he left will live on.

Howard was employed by the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation to run the Ohio Strategic Training Center, and founded the STEM+M Academy, which is set to open in South Point next fall.

“It’s just a terrible shock,” Bill Dingus, executive director of the LEDC, said of Howard’s passing. “This county and this state lost the finest professional educator I’ve ever known and one of my dearest friends.”

Dingus added that Howard provided great leadership at the county level.

“He has his fingerprints on so many things that have made this county better,” Dingus said. “The STEM+M Academy, truck driving school, welding classes and so much more. Family income jobs have been made available because of all of Scott’s work.”

Jayshree Shah, director of the STEM+M Academy and past administrator and educator in Lawrence County schools, worked with Howard since June on the new school, and said that his work will carry on.

“It’s a tragic situation that’s happened,” she said. “But we’ll be carrying on his vision and his legacy. His main mission was to provide more students with high class education.”

Howard held many positions throughout his career, including assistant dean of Ohio University Southern, public school superintendent for close to 20 years, assistant marketing director for the SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, and senior policy analyst for the Ohio University Athens Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Affairs. He owned his own consulting company, TS Training Solutions, and was currently adjunct faculty at Ohio University. He was also a BASA former president, former Audit Team Chair for NCATE, served on the BEST Board of Directors, honored as Superintendent of the Year, recognized by the Ohio House and Senate for Excellence in School Leadership, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Ohio University College of Education and was a contributor to several publications. He was a member of the Ohio Commodores, the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and the American Legion as well.

“I worked with him on the Ironton School Board in the ‘80s. We were board members and then he became the superintendent,” Carol Allen, president of Ironton in Bloom, said. “I’m saddened that we lost such a driven educator and a man who has meant a lot to a lot of people of this state and this county.”

Howard is survived by his mother, Mavis Irene Scott Howard; his wife, Jennifer Waller Howard; his son, Charles Scott Howard Jr.; and his brother, Jeffrey Howard.