Not only is Northwest Missouri State University’s President Dr. Dean L. Hubbard the longest tenured president at Northwest, but according to him, he is actually in the top seven of longest presidencies in the nation.

On Aug. 1, 1984 Hubbard began what will be a 25-year tenure upon his retirement on July 31, 2009.

Hubbard lists becoming the first electronic campus in the nation, becoming a Culture of Quality institution and the physical footprint of the campus as three of the most important moments in Northwest’s history during his leadership.

“I don’t want to sound for a minute like I did all of those – I didn’t,” Hubbard said. “But those were things that made a huge difference in the quality of Northwest.”

Jon Rickman, Northwest’s vice president of Information Systems, said Northwest has benefited from Hubbard’s leadership because he always works things out until plans are completed. He also understood the limitations of technology and the important opportunities that come with it, Rickman said.

“In general, technology has expanded in almost all universities,” Rickman said. “However, it’s taken them much longer. It really takes time for all users, students, faculty and staff to become very comfortable with technology before it’s effective. We’ve been ahead of the implementation curve for most schools, therefore everyone’s benefited much longer.”

Hubbard admits that along the way he has looked at various other employment opportunities, but felt that, with the progress Northwest was making in terms of technological advancement and award-winning characteristics, he would be taking a step down.

“Every time I would think, ‘Do I really want to start over,’” Hubbard said. “I mean, the reason they wanted me was they would say, ‘We want an electronic campus,’ or ‘We want the Culture of Quality-type program,’ and that’s all fine; but that means then I go back to square one and start working my way back up.

“Once we had those things working and everybody was on board (at Northwest), the pace of improvement and innovation was accelerating – why leave?”

Claudia Beacom, Hubbard’s administrative assistant, said that while working in the president’s office for 12 years, she’s noticed he has always put students first.

“He’s always put them ahead of everything else,” she said. “I think because of that the students understand that, and we’ve grown tremendously because they feel they’re important here.”

She also credits his initiative with the electronic campus and said Hubbard wanted his students to have computer skills in an age when other administrators weren’t focusing on that.

“In 1984, people were still using typewriters,” Beacom said. “We were the first institution to have a computer in every residence hall and now, of course, nobody could imagine a world without having a computer –– but we thought of that first.”

But really what Hubbard will miss the most about Northwest are the student-workers in his office.
Beacom said, there are more than 700 student-workers on campus. There are seven student-workers in the president’s office where Hubbard considers it to be a learning atmosphere.

Hubbard allows students working in his office to take on researching projects and even lets them write speeches for him.

Throughout his time at Northwest, two particular events stand out in Hubbard’s mind as memorable moments in his career. One of those was the ceremony of the Joyce and Harvey White International Plaza on campus, which is lined with flags from the home countries of Northwest’s foreign students.

Hubbard said a speech by a Japanese student was particularly heartwarming, because he mentioned the fact that there was a flag from Taiwan among those at the International Plaza. He said the student noted that you could go to New York City and not see it flying among its flags, but you could at Northwest.

Another memorable time was when the world feared a Communist following and Hubbard said he was asked to serve on a board under an alliance of universities for democracy.

After a meeting with rectors, or presidents from foreign universities, it was decided to involve student ambassadors in a partnership between colleges. Hubbard took a group of 11 Northwest students to Ostrava, in the Czech Republic. There, at a local university, Ostrava students were able to see a free election for the first time via CNN. These foreign students were amazed at how the system worked.

When the local news outlets in Ostrava discovered the presence of these American students –– together with the fact that it was the night of a presidential race in which Bill Clinton was elected –– the media wanted the students to participate in a news conference and answer questions about democracy.

Hubbard said he was so proud of his students because every one of them had voted, and every one of them answered questions about the government and politics.

“The questions got harder and harder, and they finally got down to questions about the Electoral College, and there was not one question that our students didn’t hit out of the ballpark,” Hubbard said. “I was so proud, and all of the talk about American college students don’t understand and all of that –– well it certainly wasn’t true of our students. That was one of my proudest moments in education of my whole career.”

Hubbard has been everywhere from Europe to Asia and back during his travels as Northwest president with wife Aleta. Upon his retirement, Hubbard hopes to take more road trips to see various national landmarks. He also looks forward to moving to Kansas City to be closer to his children and grandchildren.

For the time being, he is helping his grandson Charlie Lowe adjust to life as a freshman at Northwest. Hubbard spoke highly of his relationship with Lowe, and said the two have plans to someday co-author a book together.

Writing is something that comes easy to Hubbard, but one talent the Maryville community might not know about is his former love of playing the trumpet. Although he hasn’t played in years, he said he played alongside symphony members many years ago and plans to get out his custom-made trumpet to start practicing again. He also has a passion for woodworking.

On July 12, 2009, Hubbard and his wife Aleta will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Hubbard commented that one way to look at his presidency is to think that he has been at Northwest for half of his marriage.

Hubbard looks forward to his last year at Northwest, and said that, while he doesn’t have any say in the hiring of a new president, it is in his contract to stay president if the board doesn’t find a suitable candidate within the next several months.
 
Why retire after 25 years?
Hubbard said it just seemed like the right time. Some criticize him for leaving while the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship still needs tenants signed, but Hubbard said if he were to leave at a time when he wasn’t in the middle of large projects, it would never be the right time.

“This has been a very congenial community, with the relationship between Northwest and the community,” Hubbard said. “It is very positive –– I mean any issue that comes up I can pick up the phone and I know half a dozen people I can call immediately and invite them to come in here and figure out a way to resolve it.

“We just have a really warm, cordial relationship, that’s made it a very accepting and welcoming community.”