George Elliott Howard (October 1, 1849 – June 9, 1928) was an American educator and author. He was a professor at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1889 to 1891, and a professor at
Stanford from 1891 to 1901. He was also the president of the
American Sociological Society in 1917.
Early life
George Elliott Howard was born on October 1, 1849, in
Saratoga, New York, to Howard and Margaret Hardin. He moved to
Nebraska with his family in 1868.[1][2]
Controversy erupted after professor
Edward Alsworth Ross was fired by Stanford president
David Starr Jordan because of his political views[6][7] on
eugenics.[8] Howard defended Ross, citing the
first amendment to the United States Constitution. Jordan demanded an apology from Howard, but Howard resigned instead, along with several other professors. He did several lectures at the
University of Chicago from 1903 to 1904. Howard returned to the University of Nebraska in 1904, and his colleagues included Edward Alsworth Ross and
Roscoe Pound. In 1906, Howard was named head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology. Howard retired in 1924.[3]