Longtime direct-broadcast satellite pioneer and T. Howard Foundation
namesake H. Taylor Howard was killed Wednesday in a plane crash.
Howard -- who is recognized as building the first private C-band home satellite-TV system -- died after a small plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff in Northern California.
Howard's stepson, Brian Files, was also killed in the crash.
The nonprofit T. Howard Foundation, which advocates the promotion of women and people of color within the satellite and telecommunications industries, was created in 1994 and named for Howard, who, throughout his long-spanning career, was dedicated to ensuring diversity within the inner workings of the satellite industry, foundation executive director Cynthia Dinkins said.
T Howard founding chairman Scott Weiss said in a prepared
statement, 'As the father of the satellite industry and the namesake of this
foundation, Taylor was an extraordinary man who has had a profound impact on
this industry and, more important, the many people whose lives he touched in
such a meaningful way over so many years.'
