About Greg Howell
Greg Howell is one of the founding fathers of Lean Construction. He was born February 3, 1943 in Springfield, Missouri to Alvin Hinshaw Howell and
Joyce Howell, née Gregory. He lived in Independence, Missouri before moving to
Scottsdale, Arizona when he was in high school. Greg studied construction engineering at
Stanford, was a member of the ATO fraternity, and played on the university rugby team.
After he graduated in 1965, Greg joined the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander in the Civil
Engineering Corps and commanded Mobile Construction Battalion 11, better known as the
Seabees.
Greg Howell and Glenn Ballard invented the Last Planner System in the early 1990s and their work on productivity in the 1980s lead to the development of the Lean Construction field. During his life, Greg published more than 100 research papers on how to improve the construction industry. He was the first to develop the concept of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) in the early 2000s. He introduced the concept of using games and simulations to teach Lean Construction concepts and was the creator of the Parade of Trades Game. He is known to be very generous in sharing his knowledge and expertise. He was a great storyteller and connected people together.
Greg and Glenn founded the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) in 1997 and were early supporters of the Lean Construction Blog. Greg's generousity and legacy has built the Lean Construction community to where it is today. His scientific research and project-based implementations lead to many of the Lean Construction methods and practices that we currently use today.
Gregory Alvin Howell passed away peacefully on June 15, 2020 at
home in Ketchum, Idaho. He is survived by his wife of 40 plus years, Dana Langhorne Howell, his daughter
Emily Thomsen, son-in-law Ian Thomsen, 3 grandchildren, his brother Kenneth Howell (Kris
Slentz) and his two favorite dogs, Chispa and Furgus.
On August 1, 2022 Dana Howell organized a celebration of life for Greg in Menlo Park, California. The Lean Construction Blog assisted in the ceremony. The recordings from ceremony and photos are available here for everyone to see. There is an ancient proverb "when you eat a fruit, be grateful for the person that planted the tree". As we continue to practice lean construction, we are forever grateful for the work that Greg had done in order to create the foundation of this field.
