ELON COLLEGE – William R. Howard, former chairman of two major airlines, will share his insights about leadership during an April 28-29 visit to Elon College.
Howard will join a panel of students in a discussion at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28 in Yeager Recital Hall in the Faith Rockefeller Model Center for the Arts. He also will give a speech titled, “Motivating the Workforce: The Piedmont Story” at a dinner on April 29. The cost of the dinner, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is $20 or $125 for a table of eight. To make reservations contact Jane Gilliam at (336) 584-2566 by April 21.
Howard’s visit is part of the college’s Legends of Business lecture series, which brings prominent business leaders to campus. The series is sponsored by the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.
Howard began his career in the airline industry as a member of a law firm that was representing Eastern Airlines. In 1971 he was named senior vice president of Eastern and served in that capacity for seven years.
In 1978, he joined Piedmont Airlines, which as based in Winston-Salem, as senior vice president and assistant to the president. He held several positions becoming being named president and chief executive officer in 1983. During Howard’s 10-year tenure, Piedmont quickly became one of the fastest growing airlines in terms of passengers and airplanes.
In 1987, Piedmont agreed to a buyout with USAir. Howard resigned to help pilots at United Airlines in a failed effort to buy the company.
Howard became chairman and chief executive of TransWorld Airline in July 1993, while the airline was in bankruptcy court. He retired in January 1994.
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