Ed Howard was born in Beckley, W. Va., and graduated from Stratton High School in 1960. In January 1965, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Marshall University.

That same year, he started as a management trainee with the downtown Huntington JCPenney store. It didn’t take him long to work his way up. In 1980, after holding a variety of management positions in various stores, Ed was promoted to store manager in Dayton.

After several more promotions, Ed was named director of geographic merchandising in the company’s corporate office in 1989. Just a year later, he was elected vice president and director of investor relations.

From there, Ed moved up to president of the southwest region in September 1993 and was appointed to his current position, president of the company’s west region, in 1996.

Today, Ed oversees 325 JCPenney stores in 21 states, more than 39,000 associates, and sales and profit of a $4.8 billion business share of the market.

He sits on numerous boards of directors, including the Marshall University Society of Yeager Scholars, Executive Leadership Council and the John Freeman Hightower Foundation. He is an Advisory Board Member of the Black Retail Action Group, and a member of California State University’s Fullerton’s Blue Ribbon Committee, National Retail Association, NAACP and the National Urban League.