Howard J. Hook Jr. ’48

Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 17, 1925, Howard was a longtime resident of New York City, where he died Dec. 7, 2013.

At Princeton he was in the Navy V-12 program and majored in political science. He was unable to graduate because he caught polio and left for a long recuperation in Switzerland, where he had attended prep school in Vevey.

Howard became a vocal-music professional after studying in Switzerland, Italy, and New York. His full-time career was in sponsorship of and participation in many committees and programs of the Metropolitan Opera. He was a co-founder and lifelong board member of the Metropolitan Opera National Council, which conducts the Met’s international program of vocal auditions.

In 1958, at age 33, Howard was elected to the Metropolitan Opera board of directors, one of the youngest persons ever so honored. In 1982 he was awarded the Met’s Verdi Medal, for outstanding contributions to the Met itself and for his leadership in the auditions program. Howard also was a lifelong participant in groups devoted to Anglo-American cultural relations, health, and nutrition; the Friends of Covent Garden in London; the National Council of Arts and Letters; and Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital.

He is survived by his brother, Donald, and by Michael Denney, his longtime companion.