Jonathan Howes (April 11, 1937 – May 31, 2015) was an American politician and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

. He served as the Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

from 1970 until 1993. Howes began his political career as an elected member of the Chapel Hill Town Council from 1975 to 1987. He was then elected Mayor of Chapel Hill for two consecutive terms from 1987 to 1991. In 1991,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the List of governors of North Carolina, 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governo ...

appointed Howes as Secretary of the

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) is an agency of the government of North Carolina that focuses on the preservation and protection of natural resources and public health. The Department is headed by the Secretary of En ...

, a state cabinet position he held from 1992 to 1997.

Biography

Early life and career

Howes was raised in

Fountain City, Tennessee Fountain City is a neighborhood in northern Knoxville, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Although not a census-designated place (it is grouped with Knoxville for census-purposes), the populations of the two ZIP codes that serve Founta ...

, a neighborhood in northern

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

. He first visited

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

, in 1955 as a prospective student on high school student visitation to

(UNC). He enrolled at UNC as a freshman. However, he transferred to

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ...

after his freshman years with the goal of originally becoming a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

minister. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Wittenberg in 1959. Howes re-enrolled at UNC for his graduate studies in 1959, obtaining a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and regional planning. He moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1960 to take a position within the federal

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

during the

Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy's tenure as the 35th president of the United States, began with his inauguration on January 20, 1961, and ended with his assassination on November 22, 1963. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he took office following the 1960 p ...

. In 1966, Howes completed another master's degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 1970, Howes and his family returned to Chapel Hill from the D.C. area to become the Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the center's director for 23 years, from 1970 to 1993.

Political career

Howes was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 1975 and served on continuously until 1987. He was elected Mayor of Chapel Hill in 1987, serving two terms until 1991. Howes focused on improving relations between UNC and the larger Chapel Hill community during his tenure as mayor. Under Howes, Chapel Hill constructed a new

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, library, and expanded

city park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

s and greenspaces. Additional neighborhoods were also annexed to Chapel Hill in 1990, which required attention to community relations. As Mayor of Chapel Hill, Howes also contributed his expertise on

regional planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land ...

during his tenure on as the Triangle J Council of Governments. North Carolina Governor

appointed Howes as Secretary of the

in 1992. Under Howes, the state government established the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, which provides funding for coastal access programs,

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

s and local recreational areas. He served as Secretary for five years, from 1992 to 1997. Howes was later awarded the

Order of the Long Leaf Pine The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, created in 1964, is an honor that can be granted in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2021, it was believed the Order had been awarded to more than 21,000 people. The Order The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is ...

, North Carolina's highest honor, for his contributions as secretary.

Return to UNC

In 1997, Howes was appointed Special Assistant to the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

James Moeser for Community Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill. Howes served as the Special Assistant for both Chancellor Moeser and his successor,

Holden Thorp Herbert Holden Thorp (born August 16, 1964) is an American chemist, professor and entrepreneur. He was the tenth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, assuming the position on July 1, 2008, succeeding James Moeser, and, a ...

, until his retirement from in 2010. Howes oversaw UNC's " town-gown" relations between the university and the larger community as a special assistant to the chancellor. He and David Godschalk, a former Chapel Hill Town Council member and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning, co-chaired the 2000 Campus Master Plan project, which oversaw the planned 6 million square foot expansion of the existing UNC Chapel Hill campus. In addition to his positions at UNC, Howes served as the interim

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of WUNC Radio, the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

member station for the

Research Triangle The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...

area of North Carolina, from 2001 to 2002, while the station sought a permanent general manager. He was also a member of WUNC's Community Advisory Board. He served as the interim director of the

North Carolina Botanical Garden The North Carolina Botanical Garden (about , plus of nature preserves) is a botanical garden operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The primary goal of the Garden is to research, catalog, a ...

for almost four months in 2015. Jonathan Howes died of complications from heart disease at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill on May 31, 2015, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife of 55 years, Mary Howes; their three children – Anne Anderson, Betsy Howes-Bean and Bo Howes; and eight grandchildren – Margaret, Elizabeth Karen, and David (Anne), Benjamin, and Rebecca (Betsy), and Jonathan, Maxwell, and Matthew (Bo).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, Jonathan 1937 births 2015 deaths Mayors of Chapel Hill, North Carolina State cabinet secretaries of North Carolina North Carolina city council members American urban planners University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty American radio executives Wittenberg University alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee

Biography

Early life and career

Political career

Return to UNC

See also

References