Imagine strolling the halls of your middle school and you recognize a name on an art piece as a celebrity?

Eyer Middle School Principal Tom Ruhf happened to be strolling the halls at the school and the name “Todd Howard” caught his eye. Having an interest in gaming, Ruhf recognized the name and googled “Todd Howard and gaming.” And there it was – Todd Howard the game developer attended Eyer Middle School in the 1980s when it was a junior high school serving students in grades 7-9. The school became a middle school serving grades 6-8 in 1998.

As a project for his art class in 1986, Howard completed a sketch of the front of the junior high school. As a result of renovations to the landscape, this portion of the school no longer exists so the art piece is a classic revealing a section of the original building. The students would complete art projects and the art teachers would select a few to frame and display throughout the school.

Howard’s piece was chosen and has been displayed for the past four decades while Howard used his creative side and developed his passion for gaming integrating himself into this world as a career.

To have a celebrity name attached to it makes the artwork that much more intriguing for the East Penn community, especially Eyer Middle School.

“This is a fantastic surprise! We are so proud to have this connection with Todd Howard,” Ruhf said.

Howard grew up on Parkview Drive in Emmaus. Upon leaving Eyer Junior High School, he attended Emmaus High School and became a leader in the school. According to his yearbook description, Howard was a member of National Honor Society, Kid to Kid, Safe Rides, served as a homeroom representative, a member of Model UN and held leadership positions as vice president of Latin Club, treasurer for his sophomore and junior classes and served as president of his senior class in 1988-1989. He even found time to play tennis for the school.

In the 1980s, computers surfaced in high schools mostly as coding classes. Most young people played video games on Atari consoles or at the local arcade. Howard developed an interest in computers, specifically video games at a very young age. He enjoyed the 1980s role-playing video games Wizardry and Ultima III: Exodus which would influence his future games.

His Wikipedia page says he considers Tetris to be the greatest game ever created.

After graduating from Emmaus High School, Howard attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. and majored in business while taking computer classes. He once said “a business major appeared as the easiest path through college.” Having an older brother Jeff who was director of creative affairs for Disney reveals perhaps creativity runs in the family.

In 1988, while on break during his senior year of college, Howard secured a copy of Wayne Gretzky Hockey by Bethesda Softworks in Rockville, Md. He reportedly passed by the company on his commutes to college and sought a position at the company. Unfortunately, he was told he needed his college degree completed.

He graduated in 1993 with a bachelor of business administration degree and sought employment with the company again. He was then told there were no job opportunities available at that time.

Howard chose to work for a small game company in Yorktown, Va. He attended conventions and continued seeking job opportunities for Bethesda Softworks. He was hired as a producer in 1994. He worked on “NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2” as a producer in 1994 as well as “The Elder Scrolls: Arena” as a CD-ROM version tester.

In 1999, he was executive producer for “Protector.” By 1995, Howard was producer for “The Terminator: Future Shock,” “Skynet” and “The Elder Scrolls” in 1996.

For the first time in 1998, Howard became project leader on “The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard.” By 2000, he was leader and designer for “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind” and its future expansions. This successful production earned him several Game of the Year awards.

In 2006, he was executive producer for “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” and served as game director and executive producer of “Fallout 3” in 2008. “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” gave him the opportunity as creative director in 2011. He continued to direct “Fallout 4” in 2015 and produced “Fallout 76” which involved a multiplayer installment.

He also served as executive producer of “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” which was released by MachineGames and Lucasfilms Games. His philosophy for these games was to “allow people to live another life, in another world.”

Becoming a presenter at conferences he said developers should “ignore demographics and installed base and follow their passions.” Howard said “Ultima VII: The Black Gate” is a personal favorite and influenced many of the games he developed.

By 2019, he served as executive producer of “The Elder Scrolls: Blades.” In 2023, he became game director for “Starfield” and also in 2024 for “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.”

Most recently he is game director for “The Elder Scrolls VI” and “Fallout 5.” No release date has been set yet for “The Elder Scrolls VI” although insiders report a launch date could be in 2027-2028.

The launch for “Fallout 5” will follow possibly in 2030. However, the series “Fallout” which premiered on Amazon Prime in April 2024 dropped its second season this month.

According to reports, “the ‘Fallout 5’ game will exist in the same universe and timeline as the show which is considered a huge development for the future of the franchise.” A third season is also already planned.

Newsweek, CNN, USA Today and The Today Show have featured Howard’s games and he has received much recognition for a number of his productions. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Conference and GamePro named him one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming over the past 20 years.

In 2012 and 2016, he was awarded the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction. By 2013, he was listed 70th in a ranking of the top 100 game creators of all time.

In 2014, the country of Germany recognized him with the Lara of Honor, a lifetime achievement award. The year 2017 brought him an induction into the Hall of Fame for Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and in 2020 he was recognized with the Develop Star award for outstanding achievements and contribution to the gaming industry.

The staff and administration of Eyer Middle School is proud to have recognized this artwork as the work of former junior high student who has worked passionately as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios who has led the development of the “Fallout” and “The Elder Scrolls” series as well as game director for Starfield.

Since 1995, he has been married to Kim Yaissle and has two sons.

For all the middle school students sitting in art classes, take a lesson from Howard. Use your creativity and talent to pursue your passions. Howard never gave up on his passion to work for Bethesda Softworks. Rejection never stopped him. He completed his education. He gained necessary experience. He earned his position and became one of the world’s leading producers in the international gaming industry.

When passersby see this art piece displayed at Eyer Middle School, they should be inspired to use what they have been given to pursue what it is they want in life.