Neil Howe, Founding Partner and President
Last Updated: Apr. 18, 2017
Neil Howe is a renowned authority on generations and social change in America. An acclaimed author and speaker, he is the nation’s leading thinker on today’s generations—who they are, what motivates them, and how they will shape America’s future.
Howe is founder and president of the consulting firm LifeCourse Associates, where he develops and implements cutting-edge research, analysis, and consulting services to help clients understand how generations impact marketing, workforce issues, and strategic planning. LifeCourse has served hundreds of corporate, nonprofit, and government clients.
A historian, economist, and demographer, Howe is a recognized authority on global aging, long-term fiscal policy, and migration. He is the managing director of demography at Hedgeye and president of Saeculum Research. Howe is also a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Global Aging Institute, both in Washington D.C. He has co-authored numerous studies for CSIS (including the Aging Vulnerability Index and pioneering studies on pension reform in China and South Korea).
Howe is a bestselling author who has written over a dozen books on generations, demographic change, and fiscal policy, many of them with William Strauss. Howe and Strauss’ first book, Generations (1991) is a history of America told as a sequence of generational biographies. Generations, said Newsweek, is “a provocative, erudite, and engaging analysis of the rhythms of American life.” Vice President Al Gore called it “the most stimulating book on American history that I have ever read” and sent a copy to every member of Congress. Newt Gingrich called it “an intellectual tour de force.” Of their book, The Fourth Turning (1997), Dan Yankelovich said, “Immensely stimulating…We will never be able to think about history in the same way.” The Boston Globe wrote, “If Howe and Strauss are right, they will take their place among the great American prophets.”
Howe and Strauss originally coined the term “Millennial Generation” in 1991, and wrote the pioneering book on this generation, Millennials Rising, in 2000. Howe has since released several application books on Millennials—including a Recruiting Millennials Handbook for the United States Army (2001), Millennials Go To College (2003, 2007), Millennials and the Pop Culture (2005), Millennials and K-12 Schools (2008), and Millennials in the Workplace (2010). Howe’s work has been featured frequently by media outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Previous works include On Borrowed Time (1989; reissued 2004), a pioneering call for budgetary reform Howe co-authored with Peter G. Peterson, as well as The Graying of the Great Powers (2008) with Richard Jackson.
Howe grew up in California and currently resides in Great Falls, Virginia, close to Washington, DC. He received his B.A. at U.C. Berkeley, studied abroad in France and Germany, and later earned graduate degrees in economics (M.A., 1978) and history (M.Phil., 1979) from Yale University.
