After more than a decade in higher education leadership posts in Annapolis, Md., and Washington, Dr. Danette G. Howard moves on from the Maryland Higher Education Commission to the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation, where she becomes vice-president for policy and mobilization this month.
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley announced Monday that Howard is leaving her position as Secretary of Higher Education to join the Lumina Foundation, a private foundation known for its work in increasing higher education degree attainment in the U.S.
As higher education secretary, Howard had direct authority for Maryland’s $110 million financial aid program, supervised the approval of new academic programs and institutions seeking to operate in the state and advised the governor and state legislators on higher education policies and initiatives. Howard had been appointed secretary in June 2012 after serving as interim secretary for 10 months.
“Secretary Howard has been an invaluable leader for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Under her leadership, Maryland has simultaneously improved the quality of our colleges and universities, and fought to hold down tuition,” Governor O’Malley said in a statement.
Catherine McCullough Shultz, the principal counsel in the Office of Attorney General at the Maryland Higher Education Commission, will become the acting secretary of the commission.
Regarded nationally as an influential analyst and thought leader, Howard had previously served as director of research and policy analysis at the commission. She also had held positions as an assistant director of higher education policy at the Education Trust organization in Washington and as a student affairs administrator and admissions counselor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
This past month, Howard was named to the 2014 Maryland’s Top 100 Women listing, which is compiled by the Baltimore-based The Daily Record legal and business news publication. Since 1996, The Daily Record has published Maryland’s Top 100 Women honors annually to recognize exemplary achievement by women proven through professional accomplishments, community leadership and mentoring.
“Each of Maryland’s Top 100 Women honorees is different in some way from one another, yet all share a common goal — to inspire those around them to be the best. Women are an amazing resource for our state, and The Daily Record is honored to recognize their accomplishments,” The Daily Record publisher Suzanne Fischer-Huettner said in a statement.
