WASHINGTON – Howard University announces that the recipient of the 2023 LaRue V. Barkwell Capstone Distinguished Service Award is Anita L. English, the assistant secretary for University operations and director of policy management in the Office of the Secretary (OS). The award from the Board of Trustees will be presented during the 2023 Charter Day Dinner on Saturday, March 4. 

“It gives me great pleasure to nominate Ms. Anita L. English as the recipient of the 2023 Capstone Distinguished Service Award. Her quality service is deeply valued and her dedication to the University is immeasurable,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, president of Howard University.  

English has served in the Office of the Secretary since 2005. Her duties include facilitating the systemic development and issuance of University policies. She also convenes the University Policy Working Group, a high-level team of representatives from across the University, and manages the policy website. 

“I want to express my sincere and deep appreciation to President Frederick for recognizing me and, in so doing, the importance of the work of Howard University’s staff,” English said. 

She supports the office’s primary goal of staffing the Board of Trustees, including preparing and archiving the Board’s official records. In 2021, English collaborated with the Office of University Communications to upgrade OS’s online presence to ensure the University’s policies and governance information are accessible to the Howard community. 

Twice during her tenure, in 2014 and in 2023, English has been part of the office of the presidential search, supporting the search director and the work of the Presidential Search Committee. 

English joined Howard University in 1995, working in the Center for Drug Abuse Research. She assisted with proposal writing, planning and implementing national and international conferences, and managing the day-to-day operation of the Center. 

A former Peace Corps Volunteer, English served as an English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teacher in southern Thailand and as TEFL volunteer in the Peace Corps office. Subsequently, she worked with two joint voluntary agencies, alongside USAID, in refugee camps in Malaysia and the Philippines. Upon returning to the United States, English earned an MPA degree from Columbia University in New York, leading to her work as a policy analyst in the Office of Policy and Program Evaluation in the Government of the District of Columbia.  

After meeting her husband, Dr. William R. English, P.E., EUR ING, she relocated to Europe during his tenure with NATO, where she served as an editor of Welcome to Belgium, an orientation manual published by the U.S. Embassy. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and was part of the Deltas for Howard who hosted the sorority’s 100th Anniversary celebrations on campus in 2013. English and her husband have two daughters who are both Howard alumnae: Belle E. V. English, M.D., a 2017 graduate of the College of Medicine and Camille J. English, M.S., a 2018 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences.  

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