Buies Creek, N.C.-Ester Holder Howard, of Lillington, N.C. received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Campbell University’s School of Education at an annual commissioning ceremony held Friday, Feb. 26. Howard is a retired educator and former supervisor of Elementary Education for the Harnett County Schools.
A 1944 graduate of Campbell College, Howard earned a bachelor’s degree from Meredith College and a Master of Education in Supervision and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She continued her post graduate studies at North Carolina State University, Duke University and East Carolina University.
Howard’s career as an educator spanned 43 years and was filled with achievement, according to Dr. Karen Nery, dean of the School of Education. A 20-year veteran of the classroom, she employed that experience and knowledge in her role as supervisor of Elementary Education for Harnett County from 1966-1989.
An active Campbell University alumna, Howard has served as a member of the Board of Trustees, the Presidential Board of Advisors and as president of the Harnett County Loyalty Campaign. She has established three scholarships at Campbell and has been a donor to multiple capital campaigns, including the D. Rich Hall renovation, the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center, the Folwell Fountain and Garden and the Anna Gardner and Robert B. Butler Chapel.
In 1994, Howard was named a Distinguished Alumna of Campbell, and she received the prestigious Presidential Medallion in 2000.
Howard is also active in the greater Harnett County community, where she has served as president of the Cape Fear Friends of the Fine Arts Executive Committee and president of Friendly Homemakers, an organization under the direction of the state Cooperative Extension Agency.
Howard was named Woman of Distinction by the Gamma Pi Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, a sorority that recognizes outstanding educators, and she holds life memberships in the Harnett County Friends of the Library, the North Carolina Association of School Administrators, and the North Carolina Association of Educators.
Photo Copy: Ester Howard, left, receives the Lifetime Achievement award from Dr. Janet Powell, director of Teacher Education at Campbell University’s School of Education. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)