Howard describes himself as old enough to remember the Beatles playing backup to Terry Lightfoot and his orchestra at a Fresher’s Ball at Liverpool University, where he studied Physics.

After graduating, Howard taught Physics with VSO at a school in Kuantan on Malaya’s beautiful East Coast. With two other volunteers, he bought a Land Rover and drove overland back to the UK. He spent nine months on the journey, travelling through countries like Afghanistan and Iran, which were then much safer.

After returning home, Howard did a PhD at Penn State in America, where he did a lot of climbing, including Mount McKinley in Alaska. He moved to Glasgow to work with the MRC in the very stimulating Virology Unit until he retired. During that period, Howard took two sabbaticals, one at UCLA and the other at the University of Bergen.

In Glasgow, he enjoyed more climbing and sailing and was fortunate to spend about 30 summers cruising on the West coast of Scotland.