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A Macon native, Dr. Keith Howard is a graduate of Central High School and the Mercer University Upward Bound Program. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Morehouse College and a bachelor of chemical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1995 as part of the dual-degree engineering program. During his undergraduate years, Dr. Howard was awarded the Robert M. McNair NASA scholarship, which provided him the opportunity to intern at the Kennedy Space Center.

Upon completion of his undergraduate degrees, Dr. Howard attended graduate school at Vanderbilt University where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (1997 and 2000, respectively) in mathematics. During his final year of graduate study, Dr. Howard was selected as a Dissertation Fellow at Kenyon College, where he continued his academic career until joining the Mercer University Faculty in 2005.

Currently interim dean of graduate studies, Dr. Howard previously served as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, Dr. Howard is actively engaged in scholarship and service. His research is in the areas of mathematical biology, giving particular attention to modeling blood diseases such as aplastic anemia and alpha-thalassemia.

He also engages in pedagogical research on the integration of writing and technology in mathematical teaching. His contributions to the College and University include leading the successful effort to redesign, implement and assess general education in CLA, serving on the SACS leadership team, QEP Assessment committee and previous service on the University House of Delegates and the CLA Executive Committee.