Dr. Howard, a native Vermonter, received his veterinary degree from Michigan State University in 1975. After completing a small animal surgery residency at Cornell University in 1980, Dr. Howard accepted a faculty position in small animal surgery at the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. This was followed in 1982 by a similar appointment at the newly established School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (UWSVM), where he remained until 1989.