William A. Howard       Photograph by Cheri Howard

    Professor Howard received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1990 from Tulane University, having majored in chemistry.  He then pursued graduate work in synthetic organometallic chemistry in the research group of Ged Parkin in the Department of Chemistry, Columbia University.  At Columbia, Professor Howard isolated four series of terminal chalcogenido complexes of permethylzirconocene and permethylhafnocene, and he characterized the chemical reactivities of these novel and highly labile complexes.  After receiving his Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 1995, Professor Howard worked for two years as a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Bob Bergman in the College of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.  At Berkeley, Professor Howard prepared and characterized a number of organoplatinum(IV) complexes and studied some photochemical reactions involving alkylperoxo derivatives of palladium(II) and platinum(II).

    In 1997, Professor Howard moved to Houston, Texas to work as an Associate Research Chemist for Shell Chemical Company at Westhollow Technology Center.  There, he aided in the development and commercialization of novel heterogeneous, hydrotreating catalysts.  In 1999, Professor Howard left this industrial setting and returned to academia to work as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo, where he gained very valuable teaching experience.  In 2001, Professor Howard moved to the University of Alaska Fairbanks as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

    Professor Howard has remained at the University of Alaska since 2001.  (Fairbanks, Alaska is the greatest place in the world to live and work!)  Professor Howard's research interests include the medicinal chemistry of vanadium complexes, the basic coordination chemistry of rhodium complexes, and skeptically evaluating radiometric dating methods.  Professor Howard is a Bible-believing Christian who also enjoys reading, writing science fiction, and body-building.

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