Tim Howes (b. September 21, 1963) is the co-inventor of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP),^[1] the Internet standard for accessing directory servers. The main purpose was to handle situations that the X.500 protocol suite could not address.

X.500 directories list network resources to make finding them and using them easier for network administrators and users. Unfortunately, accessing X.500 records has required a full-blown X.500 server; there was no such thing as an X.500 client. This led Howes to co-create DIXIE, a directory client for X.500 directories. This work formed the basis of his Ph.D. dissertation^[2] at the University of Michigan and was the foundation for LDAP, a standards-based version of DIXIE for both clients and servers. The first publicly available version of LDAP was published in 1993.

In 1996, after joining Netscape as directory server architect, Howes was named one of the Top 25 Network Technology Drivers by Network Computing magazine. In 1997, LDAP version 3 won PC Magazine's Technical Excellence: Networking award. Howes was also named a Netscape Fellow, Netscape's highest engineering honor, and was promoted to Chief Technology Officer of Netscape's Server Products Division.

In 1999, shortly after AOL acquired Netscape, Howes co-founded Loudcloud, later renamed Opsware, where he held the positions of Executive Vice President and CTO. In 2007 Opsware was acquired by Hewlett-Packard, and Howes served as Vice President and CTO of HP Software.

In 2008, Howes left Hewlett-Packard to co-found RockMelt, Inc., a consumer Internet software company.

Howes also serves on the board of directors of Blue Coat Systems.

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