John P. Howe III

Dr. John P. Howe III is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Project HOPE, a medical missionary organization started in 1958 with the help of President Dwight Eisenhower, a couple hundred bucks and the need to bring modern health care to the Third World.

At its inception, Project HOPE consisted of a refitted U.S. Navy hospital ship. The S.S. Hope, as it was called, would take American doctors, nurses and technologists around the world and afford them the opportunity to share their skills and knowledge with the people of developing nations.
Though the S.S. HOPE was retired in 1974, the land-based initiatives of the organization are stronger than ever. With Dr. Howe at the helm, Project HOPE’s programs span more than 90 countries and focus on a variety of health- related fields.

In decreasing exposure to infectious disease by preventing its spread and promoting its proper treatment, Dr. Howe is giving people the tools they need to create self-sufficient healthcare systems. He’s helping people help themselves.

Dr. Howe started helping people after graduating from the Boston University School of Medicine. He served two years in the Army Medical Corps and later completed the Health Systems Management Program at Harvard Business School.

He serves as the Chair of the Harvard College Board of Overseers Committee at the Medical School and the School of Dental Medicine. This, combined with his history of becoming the founding President for the Texas Society for Biomedical Research, being a member and past chair of the American Medical ssociation’s Council on Scientific Affairs and being a past member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, has given Dr. Howe the connections indispensable to making Project HOPE a success.

These connections help train the staff necessary to operate hospitals and clinics, especially those targeted to the needs of children. These facilities provide a unique vehicle through which training resources can be focused, making the maximum contribution to the improvement of the health of children in developing nations.

They may no longer be physically located on the sea, but from South America to Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Dr. Howe and Project HOPE are continuing to ship medical knowledge and know-how across the world.