Dr. Howard Suzuki, college’s second dean, dies

Dr. Howard Suzuki

Howard K. Suzuki, Ph.D., the college’s dean from 1971 to 1979, passed away January 26 at his Gainesville home.

Suzuki joined the UF College of Health Related Professions in 1970 as an associate dean charged with leading curriculum planning. He previously served as a professor of anatomy at the University of Arkansas where he conducted a study on health professions education. Suzuki assumed the role of dean with the retirement of Darrel J. Mase, Ph.D., the college’s founding dean.

“Dr. Suzuki is an anatomist and physiologist who is highly regarded in these fields and who, moreover, has demonstrated leadership in allied health professions education as well as an exceptional ability in teaching and in offering meaningful perspectives to students from all strata of society,” said Mase in 1970.

Under Suzuki’s leadership, the college received sizable federal grants to improve and expand its academic offerings. These included a $873,000 grant from the Bureau of Health Manpower of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and a $585,000 grant from the Veterans Administration to establish a Bachelor of Health Science degree program.

He was also instrumental in developing the Alpha Eta Society, a national honor society to recognize allied health students for their academic accomplishments, and the Southern Association of Allied Health Deans at Academic Health Centers.

An avid wildlife sculptor and photographer, Suzuki was the first president of the UF Gallery Guild and served as an underwater photographer for the Hawaii Whale Research Foundation and as a field photographer for the U.S. and Florida Fish & Wildlife Services and the Florida alligator research team.

Suzuki was born in Ketchikan, Alaska, and received a master’s degree in zoology from Marquette University and a doctorate in anatomy from Tulane University.