John Howard

John Jackson Howard is an American physician, attorney, and public health administrator who served a 6-year term as the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and was appointed to be a special coordinator to respond to the health effects of the September 11 attacks. In this role, Howard advocated for rescue workers, introducing a program to provide screening, medical exams, and treatment for them. In 2009, Howard was again appointed as director of NIOSH and as World Trade Center Programs coordinator for HHS. In 2011, Howard became the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program. In 2016, he became the first person to be appointed to a third 6-year term as NIOSH director, and was reappointed to a fourth term in 2021.

Education John Howard received a doctor of medicine degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1974 (cum laude). To this he added a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1982. In 1986, Howard earned a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Master of Laws in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation from The George Washington University in 1987. He received a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, also from George Washington University, in 2016.

Career Howard began his career in occupational health in 1979 as an internist at the UCLA School of Medicine pulmonary fellowship program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His clinical work involved asbestos-exposed shipyard workers, and he published research findings related to workplace exposure and occupational lung disease. He served as a medical director and chief clinician at the Philip Mandelker AIDS Prevention Clinic in Los Angeles. He also worked as an assistant professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of California, Irvine.

Howard served as the chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in California's Department of Industrial Relations from 1991 to 2002. Through his administration of the division, Howard bolstered his reputation in the field. He served in this capacity for more than a decade.

Howard expanded the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) instituted by his predecessor, Dr. Rosenstock, using it as a vehicle to work toward the institute's updated aims.

John Howard was appointed by President George W. Bush to be a special coordinator to handle the medical issues afflicting 9/11 rescue workers, specifically those at the World Trade Center site. Howard introduced the World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, which offered medical help and screening to emergency workers.

As a public health administrator, Howard was admired for his ability to collaborate effectively, even with adversarial parties. He was noted for the tone of "openness and cooperation" he set His term ended on July 14, 2008, in a "controversial decision that brought criticism from safety and health stakeholders". He completed his term and began serving as a temporary legal advisor to the CDC director. NIOSH associate director Christine Branche, Ph.D., served as acting director in Dr. Howard's place.

On September 3, 2009, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Howard's reappointment as director of NIOSH and World Trade Center Programs coordinator for HHS. In 2016, Howard became the first person to be appointed to a third 6-year term as NIOSH director and received a fourth 6-year appointment in 2021.