In Memoriam: JoGayle Howard, D.V.M., Ph.D. 1951–2011

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How many scientists can say that their work has impacted our planet in a positive and measurable way? Dr. JoGayle Howard could. She was instrumental in helping save some of the world's most charismatic species through basic and applied research and professional training. With great sadness we report that Dr. JoGayle Howard died on March 5, 2011, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Dr. Howard served for three decades as a theriogenologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, in Washington, D.C. Dr. Howard was a leader and inspiration for scientists within the Society for the Study of Reproduction as well as the zoo and wildlife community; she had been an active member of the Society since 1989.

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Dr. Howard received her D.V.M. from Texas A&M University in 1980, and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1989. Dr. Howard's career at the National Zoo started in 1980 as a freshly graduated veterinarian who did a post-graduate internship in comparative reproduction under the supervision of Drs. David Wildt and Mitchell Bush. During those early years, Dr. Howard developed approaches for and conducted fertility examinations on a host of wildlife species ranging from bats to elephants; she traveled the world extensively, working both in the field in Africa and in zoos and breeding centers.