Dr. Brooks graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors in physics from William Jewell College in 1977.  He completed his M.S. (1979) and Ph.D. (1981) degrees in physics at the University of Missouri-Rolla.  His research there investigated the interaction of low energy electron swarms with gas mixtures containing iodine and mercuric bromide.  He joined the faculty at DePauw in 1981.                                            

From 1986 until 1994, Dr. Brooks conducted research with engineers in the Test Laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  In the summers of 1986 and 1987 he was a NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow.  The remaining years, he worked under unsolicited grants dealing with the optical analysis of data collected during crystal growth experiments conducted onboard Spacelab.

          In subsequent years, Dr. Brooks has supervised student research projects investigating the flight of various objects.  Students in the Science Research Fellows program have built simple machines to throw boomerangs and kick footballs.   His current research is with the Balloon Assisted Stratospheric Experiments (BASE) program, which involves DePauw students and students from area K-12 schools in designing, building, and flying experiments into the stratosphere. 

          Throughout his career at DePauw, he has been active in the Indiana Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.  He also serves as the Science Review Committee chair for the West Central Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair.  DePauw has served as host for five Regional Fairs and the 2006 Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair (the state science fair).  He is currently serving on the board of the Science Education Foundation of Indiana.

           He married Marilyn Parham in 1977, and they have two sons Nathan (b. 1982), a student at Asbury Seminary, and David (b. 1987), a student at Taylor University.  He is active in the First Baptist Church and is Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 99.  Howard has completed two treks, one with each son, at the Philmont Scout Ranch.  In 2001, he served as Scoutmaster for the Wabash Valley Council Troop 1238 that attended the National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia.  He received the vigil honor from the Order of the Arrow in 2002, the Silver Beaver award in 2004, and was recognized nationally as an Outstanding Scoutmaster in 2005.