Professor Emeritus of Sociology Leslie “Les” Howard passed away on the afternoon of July 6, 2017 after a prolonged illness. He was 77.
A beloved professor at Whittier College since 1981, Howard’s academic expertise was in the relationship between the organization of work and other aspects of people’s lives, as well as in U.S.-Mexican border society and culture.
Howard impacted the lives of thousands of Poets during his long tenure at Whittier.
Trustee Miguel Santana ’91 was one of Howard’s students and a life- long mentee. “I am proud to be a disciple of Les Howard and will always carry with me his teachings, voice, and love,” said Santana. “There are thousands of ’Lesians’ in the world who bring him with us when we confront an injustice, seek to understand ‘the Other’ or simply engage in discourse on the issues that matter. Les represented the best of Whittier College’s mission and impact in our community.”
One of Howard’s most popular offerings was the JanTerm course, Workshop in Urban Studies. For more than 20 years, he taught the class out of his living room in Uptown Whittier and used the Los Angeles area as a living classroom.
An Alhambra, Calif. native, Howard earned his bachelor’s in sociology and political science at Whittier College. Howard would have celebrated his 55th class reunion this year and was a devoted organizer of class of ’62 celebrations. He earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology at Harvard University.
A resident of the City of Whittier, Howard was frequently seen at community events and was an active volunteer with First Day, H.O.T., and the Peace and Justice Coalition, among others.
ESTABLISHING AN ENDOWED CHAIR IN SOCIOLOGY
Howard made a generous commitment to donate the majority of his estate to the College to establish an endowed chair in sociology named—according to his wishes—after C. Wright Mills. Mills taught sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962 and shaped Howard’s views on the discipline, advocating for public political engagement and social responsibility over disinterested observation and theory.
Howard hoped that others would support the chair initiative as well. With questions, please call Eva Sevcikova ’03, director of development, at 562.907.4288.