• Earned bachelor’s degree from KU School of Business, 1979
• KU Alumni Association Fred Ellsworth Medallion, 2014
• KU School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, 2023
• Member of KU Endowment Board of Trustees Executive Committee

Jay Howard is the owner and president of JDH Asset Management LLC and JDH Investments LLC in Austin, Texas.

Howard previously was the co-founder and president of First Capital Partners Inc. in Dallas. He is a member of KU Endowment’s board of trustees executive committee, serves as chair of its investment committee and is a board member of its West District Improvement Company. He previously was on KU Alumni Association’s board of directors, serving as national chair from 2010 to 2011, and he was a steering committee member for KU’s Far Above campaign. Howard is the former president and founder of the Austin Boys & Girls Club Foundation and has served on the Boys & Girls Club of Austin board of directors.

Howard grew up in Salina and graduated from Salina Central High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the School of Business in 1979, and he earned a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1982.

In 2023, he was honored with the KU School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 2014, Howard received the Fred Ellsworth Medallion from KU Alumni Association for his extraordinary service to KU. Howard and his wife, Julia, have supported various KU programs over the years, including a professorship in the School of Business — the Jack and Shirley Howard Mid-Career Professorship — named in honor of his parents.