Max Howell (educator)

Maxwell Leo "Max" Howell AO (23 July 1927 – 3 February 2014) was an Australian educator and rugby union player. He played 5 Tests and 27 non-Test games for Australia between 1946 and 1948. He went on to become a physical education teacher and Professor at the University of Queensland. In 2003 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia "for service to education as a pioneer in the development of sports studies and sport science as academic disciplines".[1][2]

Max Howell

Date of birth	(1927-07-23)23 July 1927
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Date of death	3 February 2014(2014-02-03) (aged 86)
Place of death	Brisbane, Australia
School	Sydney Technical High School
Occupation(s)	Educator, University Professor
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1946–1948 AUS 5

After his career as player he went to North America. Aligned with his sporting exploits, he pursued undergraduate and graduate study in Australia and North America in physical education, education psychology, exercise physiology, and sport history. He earned doctorate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley(Facilitation of motor learning by knowledge of performance analysis results Ed.D 1954) and from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa(An historical survey of the role of sport in society, with particular reference to Canada since 1700. PhD 1969) He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Alberta, Canada. During his academic career, Max held teaching and administrative posts at the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta, San Diego State University, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Queensland.

At Alberta, Max began the graduate program in sport history from which a number of scholars in sport history have graduated, he was Dean of the College of Professional Studies at San Diego State University, and he was the Foundation Chair and first Professor of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland. He was renowned for his capacity to stimulate graduate students in the field of sport history and significantly influenced programs in Canada, America, and Australia.

He published articles and books on a range of topics that included physiotherapy, motor learning, exercise physiology, comparative physical education, sport in antiquity, Canadian sport history, the history of sport in Australia, and more recently he wrote about Australian history and produced some fictional works. He is the author of two autobiographical works: The Shepherd Was Sleeping: A True Story of Love and Tragedy and Tragedy and Laughter on the Road to Oblivion: Around the Final Bend.

He was the President of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH), President of the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and President of the Canadian Association of Sport Sciences. NASSH honoured him with the annual Max and Reet Howell Memorial Address.[3]

References

1. "Former Wallaby Max Howell dies at 86 after a distinguished career in sports history education". couriermail.com.au. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
2. "Australian Rugby Mourns The Passing of Max Howell AO". rugby.com.au. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)