John Mead Howells

The architect John Mead Howells, FAIA, earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1891 and completed further architectural studies there in 1894 before studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he earned a diploma in 1897. He returned to New York and formed the architectural firm Howell & Stokes with I. N. Stokes, who had also studied at the École. The partnership, which designed such works as St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University, ended in 1913. After 1913, Howell focused his practice on office buildings in the art deco style, many of which he completed with Raymond Hood, whom he had met during his time at the École. These projects include the Tribune Tower in Chicago and the Daily News Building and Beekman Tower, both in New York City. Howells also designed the plan for the University of Brussels in Belgium in 1922 at the request of U.S. Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. Howells served as president of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects and the Society of Architects Diplômes. He was also elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters; named a Chevalier by the French Legion of Honor; and made an officer of Belgium’s Order of the Crown. Howells, son of American author William Dean Howells, wrote several books on architectural history.