Former Northwest President Hubbard dies, remembered for deep impacts on University

Northwest Missouri State University has learned Dr. Dean L. Hubbard, its longest-serving president from 1984 to 2009, has died.

Hubbard passed away Sunday evening at his Kansas City home while surrounded by family. He died at age 85 after a battle with kidney disease.

In honor of Hubbard, Northwest President Dr. Lance Tatum has ordered that the U.S. and Missouri flags be flown at half-staff on the University’s campus on Tuesday, March 25, from sunrise to sunset on Friday, April 4.

“Jill and I extend our deepest sympathy to Aleta and the Hubbard family on the passing of Dr. Dean Hubbard, Northwest’s ninth president,” Tatum said. “His 25 years of dedicated service to this institution were extraordinary, and his contributions to Northwest set the foundation for many of today’s accomplishments.

“Dr. Hubbard’s influence is woven into the very fabric of Northwest. His dedication, innovation and passion for education will always be remembered. Today, we mourn his loss, but we also celebrate a life devoted to making Northwest better for all who pass through its doors.”

During his quarter-century leading Northwest, Hubbard oversaw unprecedented growth, success and recognition for the institution.  

Under Hubbard’s leadership, Northwest gained national recognition for its “Culture of Quality,” an initiative designed to foster continuous improvement in all aspects of the University’s operations. Northwest received the Missouri Quality Award four times – in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2008 – making it the only educational institution to accomplish the feat.

Hubbard was internationally recognized for his work in the field of total quality management. He served as a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award as well as the Excellence in Missouri Foundation Board of Directors. He received the Missouri Governor’s Quality Leadership Award in 1998.

During the 1980s, Hubbard was instrumental in making Northwest the first comprehensive “electronic campus” in the United States. With the flip of a ceremonial switch in the fall of 1987, Northwest became the first public institution in the nation with networked computers in each residence hall room and faculty office. The initiative remains a hallmark of Northwest, which now provides fully loaded notebook computers and technical support to all enrolled students.

A first-generation college graduate, Hubbard also dedicated himself to making higher education affordable for individuals lacking the financial means to continue their education. He envisioned Northwest’s American Dream Grant as a needs-based program that provided tuition, room and board, books and the use of a computer to lower-income students during their first two years. That innovative program to help eliminate financial barriers for students continues today as the Northwest Promise.

Other initiatives rooted in Hubbard’s presidency and its focus on affordability and economic opportunity included Northwest’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The facility, completed in 2009 as a research center and high-tech business incubator, was renamed in Hubbard’s honor in 2014 and today, as the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation, serves as the home of the School of Agricultural Sciences while maintaining its stake as a research center that also supports the Department of Natural Sciences.

Hubbard also supported the expansion of Northwest’s pioneering alternative fuels program, which converted recycled cardboard, paper and agricultural waste into energy that was used to heat and cool the campus. The University estimated that it saved more than $12 million compared to the cost of natural gas during the two decades prior to Hubbard’s retirement from Northwest on July 31, 2009.

Significant renovations and expansions of University facilities also occurred during Hubbard’s presidency, including Roberta Hall, Lamkin Activity Center, Colden Hall, the J.W. Jones Student Union, South Complex, Bearcat Stadium and the construction of Hudson and Perrin residence halls. Additionally, the Northwest campus was designated by the state legislature as the Missouri Arboretum in 1993, and the Joyce and Harvey International Flag Plaza – a showcase of Northwest’s global enrollment but also a vision seeded in Hubbard’s affinity for multinational relationships – was dedicated during the fall of 1998.

Among other milestones during Hubbard’s tenure, the Bearcat football team won the school’s first national championship in 1998 and Northwest’s enrollment eclipsed 7,000 students for the first time in 2008.

An educator with broad international experience, Hubbard lived in Seoul, Korea, from 1966 to 1971 and helped develop language programs in six countries. In addition to extensive work in Asia, he served as a consultant to educational institutions in Europe and Central America and was a member of the board of the Alliance of Universities for Democracy.

Prior to coming to Northwest, he was president of Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. Upon retiring from Northwest, he served as the president of St. Luke's College of Health Sciences in Kansas City, Missouri, from 2011 to 2014.

He held a Ph.D. from Stanford University, a degree in Korean language from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Hubbard is survived by his wife of 66 years, Aleta; daughter Melody Messner (Andrew Morse), son D. Paul J. (Barbara) Hubbard and daughter Joy Crimmins; and grandchildren Charlie (Nhi) Lowe, Jake Hubbard, Taylor Crimmins, Alexa Crimmins, Calum (Jocelyn) Hubbard and Aiden Hubbard.