title: Howard E. Smither
text: # Howard E. Smither
  
  Howard Elbert Smither (November 15, 1925, Pittsburg, Kansas – February 1, 2020, Chapel Hill, North Carolina) was an American author, musicologist and historian of music. He is the uncle of musician Chris Smither and younger brother of the late Romance Language professor William J. Smither (1916-2007).
  
  ## Education
  
  He completed his BA at Hamline University in 1950. He completed his MA at Cornell University in 1952.
  
  ## Career
  
  He began teaching music at Oberlin College from 1955 to 1960, and subsequently taught at the University of Kansas (1960–1963), Tulane University (1963–1968), University of North Carolina (1968–1990) and University of Cardiff (1993–1995).
  
  He received the 1978 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.
  
  He received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1984.
  
  