Seeing Eye names first female CEO since founder led Morristown school in 1940
The Seeing Eye has its first female leader since cofounder Dorothy Harrison Eustis helped establish the Morristown nonprofit as the nation's first guide-dog school for blind people in 1929.
Margaret “Peggi” Howard, a former deputy chief of staff and cabinet secretary to then-New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, was appointed this week as president and CEO of the organization, which says it has trained more than 17,000 guide-dog teams across North America.
Howard took over interim leadership duties following the departure of Glenn Hoagland in December. She first joined The Seeing Eye as a member of its board of trustees in 2009.
“The Seeing Eye is an incredibly rewarding place,” Howard said in a statement “The staff, the graduates, the puppy raisers, the volunteers, the donors, and of course, the dogs, have welcomed me with open arms or, in some cases, wagging tails. It is an honor to join this team.”
“I can’t imagine a person better suited than Peggi to lead The Seeing Eye toward its 100th anniversary,” board Chairman Thomas Duffy said.
Eustis, a dog trainer, founded the school along with Morris Frank. She was the group's president until 1940.
The former governor, who is also a member of the board of trustees, praised Howard.
"It's a wonderful match," Kean said in a telephone interview. "She's been with the board for a long time, she knows the organization well and loves the organization. I think they're lucky to have her. She'll do an absolutely wonderful job."
Following their work in Trenton from 1984 to 1990, Kean and Howard were reunited at Drew University in Madison, where Kean served as president from 1990 until 2005. Howard was the school's vice president of administration and university relations from 1990 to 2014.
"She's enormously able," Kean said. "She ran for a while the largest department of the state government and at Drew, she ran the whole nonacademic side, which is a big job."
Duffy said Howard’s work as interim president and CEO has already made an impression.
"Over the last nine months, she has been implementing strategic initiatives to carry out The Seeing Eye’s mission of breeding, raising, and training the world’s best guide dogs, and instructing people who are blind or visually impaired in their care and use," he said.
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A resident of Readington in Hunterdon County, Howard holds a Ph.D. from Drew, a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s from Kenyon College.
The Seeing Eye celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2019. New and returning students typically bunk in the residential facilities on its sprawling, 60-acre Morris Township campus. A new $7.6 million kennel facility opened there in 2019.
Students and their dogs in training are a frequent sight on the streets of downtown Morristown.
All Seeing Eye puppies get their start at the organization's breeding facility in Chester. At 7 or 8 weeks old, they are housed with volunteer foster families who live within driving distance of The Seeing Eye. The foster families care for the pups until they are about 13 to 16 months old.
Because of funding, largely by foundations, private donors and corporate sponsorships, current students still pay only $150 for their guide dog and training, which takes 24 days for newcomers and 18 for returning students.
The cost reflects the original tuition in 1929, which at the time represented about a third of the total cost.
"Now, the cost to create one Seeing Eye partnership is $70,000," Hoagland told the Daily Record after he arrived in 2019.
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Seeing Eye guide dog school in Morristown NJ names female CEO
