Home Economics Department Head at ISTC Retires
CEDAR FALLS -- Dr. Elisabeth Sutherland Howes, head of the home economics department at Iowa State Teachers College since 1940, is retiring at the end of the spring semester. She and her husband, Norman E. Howes, will make their home in Des Moines. Dr. Howes came to the Teachers College as associate professor and department head in 1940. She was promoted to full professorship in 1951. Born in Roberts, Wisconsin, she was graduated from Warren Union High School there. She studied home economics, sociology, and economics at the University of Wisconsin where she was graduated with senior honors, and did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago, and the University of Minnesota where she received an Ellen H. Richards Fellowship.
Her professional society memberships include Omicron Nu, home economics honorary society; Phi Upsilon Omicron, home economics professional; Iota Sigma Pi, Sigma Delta Epsilon, Sigma Xi, American Home Economics Association, American Dietetic Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Iowa Home Economics Association, Association of Food Technologists, National Education Association, and Iowa Education Association. She is past president of the Cedar Falls-Waterloo chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, the Mercury chapter of Iota Sigma Pi, and the Ames chapter of Sigma Xi. Before coming to the Teachers College she taught home economics at Hudson High School at Hudson, Wisconsin, was home economics head at Two Rivers High School, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, instructor at the University of Wisconsin, and head of the home economics department at Ward-Belmont Junior College. She was visiting specialist at the Honolulu Social Service Bureau in Hawaii, a research assistant at the University of Minnesota, and associate professor of Foods and Nutrition at Iowa State University in Ames. J.W. Maucker, president of the Teachers College, said Thursday, "Our good wishes go with Dr. Howes as she moves to Des Moines.
Under her leadership the facilities of the Teachers College home economics department have been thoroughly modernized and a complete program for the preparation of teachers of vocational home economics has been developed." President Maucker added that he and Dr. William Lang, dean of instruction, will probably recommend the appointment of a successor to Dr. Howes at the May meeting of the State Board of Regents. April 14, 1960 Dr. Howes Word has been received of the death of Dr. Elisabeth Sutherland Howes, 77, of Sun City, Arizona, emeritus professor and former head of the University of Northern lowa home economics department. Dr. Howes died Sept. 22, 1974, in Sun City. Services were held there Sept. 24. Born in Roberts, Wisconsin, June 27, 1897, she received a bachelor of science degree in 1919 and a master of science degree in 1927, both from the University of Wisconsin. She studied home economics nutrition at the University of Minnesota for three years, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in agriculture biochemistry in 1938 from that institution. Dr. Howes taught home economics in two Wisconsin high schools, Hudson and Two Rivers, and worked for a year with the Social Service Bureau in Honolulu from 1924-25.
She was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Ward-Belmont Junior College in Nashville, Tennessee (where she was department head) and lowa State College (now lowa State University ), before joining the University of Northern lowa faculty as head of the home economics department in 1940. She served in this position until her retirement in 1960. She held memberships in a number of professional societies throughout her career, including Omicron Nu, Phi Upsilon Omicron, Iota Sigma Pi, Sigma Delta Epsilon, Sigma Xi, the American and lowa Home Economics Associations, American Dietetic Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, the National Education Association, and the Association of Food Technologists. Dr. Howes is survived by her husband, Norman E. Howes, 10043 Palmer Drive, Sun City, Arizona 85351.
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