Howard E. Males, Ph.D.

Howard E. Males, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Research Pros, Inc. Since 1985, Howard spent decades focused on creating thousands of jobs, developing management talent and capabilities and bringing unique and innovative research models and solutions to clients.

Howard has also directed his energy on economic development and innovation through various civic and private sector appointments. For nearly 14 years, as founding Chairman of the Hyde Park TIF, Howard oversaw a transparent public process that delivered positive results to the community. Since 2010, Howard has served as the Chairman of EDAC (Economic Development Advisory Committee) for Cook County, and as a member of the CEA (Council of Economic Advisors to the President) for Cook County, and is a Commissioner on the County Commission on Social Innovation. In his role at EDAC, Howard drives a public process to review proposals from a wide variety of industries for projects around the region that create jobs, innovation and value. In his role on Social Innovation, Howard is chairman of Intellectual Capital Committee. In his consulting role to the President of Cook County, Howard directed the Digital Equity Initiative that resulted in the launch of CODE (Council of Digital Equity) and in bringing concrete efforts to address critical digital device needs (such as PCs for People) to the region.

Currently, Howard is a consultant to the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and the University of Illinois system. His work is focused on tech education and tech education development within the Cook County region. Fostering tech apprenticeships, tech training of teachers and tech proficient students (K-14) are the priorities for this engagement.

In the private sector, Howard serves as a board member of Chicago Innovation and has been an active member of the organization since it began in 2002. He is connected to, and in contact with, many innovators (across diverse industries). He is also a mentor at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovationß at the University of Chicago.