Before completing his medical degree from the UConn School of Medicine, Robert Howe ’82 MD had already been heading toward a life of wide curiosity and inquiry, earning dual undergraduate degrees in chemistry and music through a joint program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

While establishing his medical practice – today he is medical director of Maple Street Medical Group in East Longmeadow, Mass. – Howe also pursued his interest in the construction of antique woodwind instruments, particularly the oboe, which he had studied as a student. Over the past two decades, he has conducted research and published his findings in scholarly music journals such as The American Musical Instrument Society and The Double Reed.