Sam Howard

Sam Howard, a trailblazing Black businessman and an esteemed veteran of Nashville's signature health care industry, has died at age 81. Howard's career highlights include multiple senior executive roles during his seven years at HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA), then known as Hospital Corporation of America, as well as four years as vice president of finance and business at Meharry Medical College. Howard owned radio stations in three states and invested in real estate. He formed a health maintenance organization (HMO) and Phoenix Holdings Inc., an investment holding company that pursues health care business opportunities. Howard was a co-founder of the philanthropic group 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee. Easterseals Tennessee named him the Nashvillian of the Year in 1998. His other board stints include Fisk University and Nashville Electric Service. More recently, Howard was an early backer of the group that created Studio Bank — investing funds and sharing his office space with the bank's founders in their earliest days. Howard was born and raised in Oklahoma, earning a bachelor's degree at Oklahoma State University (where he is in the business school's Hall of Fame) and a master's degree from Stanford University. Howard is survived by Karan Howard — his wife of more than 50 years — as well as their two children.