Bass Connections and the Rubenstein Fellows Academy has a new director

Laura Howes will serve as director of Bass Connections and the Rubenstein Fellows Academy, effective May 1, the University announced Monday.

As director of Bass Connections, Howes will work to implement and finance various projects for Bass Connections and the Rubenstein Fellows Academy. Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen announced Howes's new position in a release.

“We are confident that Laura will thrive in this role," Balleisen said in the release. "She will help Bass Connections build on the great platform that has been constructed over the first four years of the program.”

Howes will be leaving her post as associate director of strategy and operations in the Office of the Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, which she has held for the past three years. In that role, Howes led an evaluation effort of Bass Connections in 2016. 

Before coming to Duke, Howes was previously the director of finance and development at the James B. Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy. She received a bachelor's degree in public policy analysis and political science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's in business administration from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.