Howard E. Berner, Jr.  

 

Howard Berner assumed the newly created position of chief investment officer at Principia in 2009, following twelve years as Principia's treasurer and chief financial officer.  Principia is a Christian Science educational institution founded in 1898.  It consists of the Principia School, a pre-school through high school in St. Louis, Missouri; and Principia College, a four-year liberal arts college located in Elsah, Illinois, on a national landmark campus.

 

Howard came to Principia following twenty-two years on active duty as an army intelligence officer.  He served as an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught economics and investment management, and later was deputy director for resource management at the Academy.  Other assignments included duty as a liaison officer to the Soviet army in East Germany, service on the Pentagon Joint Staff, and other operational and financial management assignments in the United States and abroad.  He has a bachelor’s degree (with distinction) from West Point, an M.B.A. (with distinction) from Harvard University, and a master's degree in national security and strategic studies from the U. S. Naval War College. 

 

Howard resides in St. Louis with his wife Barbara, the artistic director for the St. Louis Children’s Choirs.  They have two adult children, a daughter teaching in Munich, Germany, and a son in graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle.