Doug Howard

Doug Howard served as the Dean of the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont University from January 2015 thru August 2022. Prior to Curb College, Howard had several key roles on Nashville’s Music Row spanning over 30 years. He served for 13 years as SR VP / A&R of Disney-owned Lyric Street Records, 5 years as SR VP / GM for Disney Music Publishing-Nashville, and 5 years as VP / GM of PolyGram Music Publishing-Nashville.

Doug started his career at the Welk Music Group serving as both Creative Director and Studio Manager. He was hired by legendary music publisher William G. Hall (the Colonel) and Roger Sovine. Doug worked with many Grammy, ASCAP, BMI, CMA, and ACM award-winning songwriter/artists and members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame including Ricky Skaggs, Don Williams, Toby Keith, Billy Ray Cyrus, Aaron Tippin, Rascal Flatts ,SheDaisy, Love & Theft, Filmore, Bob McDill, Dickey Lee, Gordon Kennedy, Tommy Rocco, Kostas ,Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jim Rushing, Peter Rowan, Angelo, and Johnny Russell, among many others.

Doug has served on the Board of Governors for the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs, was elected Nashville chapter president and vice-president, and served as a Recording Academy National Trustee. In addition, he served on the Grammy Foundation Committee, the Grammy Hall of Fame Committee, the Producer & Engineer Wing Advisory Council, and the Recording Academy Mentoring Program.

Doug is currently a board member of the Steven Kern Shaw/Gallery of Iconic Guitars and Fretted Instrument Collection, the Curb College Advisory Board at Belmont, and is the owner of Vandermont Music. Additional past service includes the board of the Academy of Country Music, the Advisory Council for the Center for Popular Music at MTSU, the Nashville Entertainment Association, and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce Music Industry Advisory Group.

He is an alumnus of Leadership Music and the Center for Creative Leadership. Howard was recognized as one of Nashville Business Journal's "Top Forty Under Forty," and he was the recipient of Belmont's School of Music Business "Alumnus of the year Award" (2002). In 2023, Doug received the Robert E. Mulloy Award of Excellence during the Music Business 50th Anniversary celebration at Belmont University. Prior to returning to Belmont as dean, Doug served as the chair for the Curb College Advisory board and on the William G. Hall Scholarship Committee. He is a member of the CMA, Leadership Music, and the Recording Academy. Howard moved to Nashville in 1974 to pursue a career in the music business. He is an alumnus of Belmont. He earned an MBA from the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and a JD from the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.