Dr. Chris Howard is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the ASU Enterprise. Dr. Howard works closely with President Crow and the other executive vice presidents to coordinate enterprise-wide initiatives and advancement, oversee ASU Enterprise affiliates, advance new enterprise relationships and opportunities, and integrate ASU Enterprise planning and strategy.
He is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He also earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Howard’s military career included service as a helicopter pilot and an intelligence officer, and he was awarded a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan.
Previously, Dr. Howard served as the eighth president of Robert Morris University in suburban Pittsburgh beginning on February 1, 2016. Under Dr. Howard’s leadership, RMU became a preferred strategic partner for corporations, organizations, and professionals in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. RMU also completed the largest capital project and comprehensive campaign in the university's 100-year history. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked RMU No. 48 on the magazine’s list of Best Value Schools, a reflection of RMU’s high academic quality and affordable price.
Before serving at RMU, Dr. Howard was President of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. During Dr. Howard's tenure at Hampden-Sydney College, the college grew enrollment, improved diversity, boosted retention, and raised its endowment.
Previously, he served as a vice president at the University of Oklahoma, and also had a successful corporate career with GE and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Dr. Howard is also a former member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.
His wife, Barbara Noble Howard, serves as an Arizona State University Fellow for nonprofit leadership and hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. The Howards have two adult sons, Cohen (graduate of the The University of the South) and Joshua (graduate of Middlebury College).
Lezlie Poole is a life- long resident of Americus, GA. She holds certifications as a Certified Peer Specialist and a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner, as well as a degree in Psychology. Lezlie has past experience in developing, innovating, and implementing programs for crisis resolution within the mental health community. During her time working with mental health crisis resolution and community outreach, Lezlie and her team were able to cut down program dropout and recidivism rates within the community.
Lezlie is currently employed at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI), as the Program Innovation Manager. Here she continues her work in the on-going implementation of evidence- based programs, as well as responsible for developing strategic initiatives to advance RCI’s mission through opportunity proposals, content and program development, and training to aid in supporting caregivers and their loved ones. More recently, Lezlie has worked with implementation and evolution of RCI’s Operation Family Caregiver and RCI REACH programs to help with understanding and reaching more caregivers in more ways. Lezlie has also developed and trained in RCI’s Virtual Empathy program to help professionals connect and engage with clients more holistically in virtual settings.
In her free time, Lezlie enjoys spending time with her two children and husband, as well as training and competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, where she holds the rank of a blue belt.