Dr. William (Bill) Hubbard spent his formative years as a Boy Scout in the hardwood forests of Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin where he learned to love and appreciate the outdoors and held several leadership positions in the BSA and the Order of the Arrow. He was awarded Eagle Scout on his 14th birthday in 1976 with Troop 501 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, in Naperville, Illinois, and headed to Philmont Scout Ranch for two weeks of high adventure two months later.
Bill received degrees in forest management and forest economics at the University of Florida (UF) and spent two summers on staff at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico where he taught mountain search and rescue skills and told ghost stories to scouts coming through the Urraca Mesa Camp. He was active in student organizations and the Sigma Nu men’s fraternity.
After college, he was offered a faculty position at UF as a statewide Extension forester with responsibilities in forest management and urban forestry. This was an amazing experience as he learned another thing to love and appreciate: lifelong education. This position afforded him an opportunity to become part of a team at an institution that meant a great deal to him and provided him an opportunity to develop and deliver educational services to youth and adults interested in forest management and natural resources. He traveled extensively within the state, nationally, and even internationally to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DCR) as part of a USAID agroforestry effort. In 1993 he accepted the position of Southern Regional Extension Forester serving thirteen southern Land Grant Extension programs and the USDA Forest Service. The position was housed at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He earned a Phd in Adult Education and Program Evaluation from the University of Georgia’s Department of Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy in 2010.
After 25 years at the University of Georgia, Dr. Hubbard accepted the position of State Program Leader and Assistant Director, University of Maryland Extension with responsibilities in the environmental, natural resources and Sea Grant programmatic areas. He currently provides administrative leadership to Maryland’s diverse natural resources programs including forestry, wildlife, wood products, fisheries and aquaculture, watershed, energy, climate and home horticulture/Master Gardener programs. These programs include over 35 faculty and staff members within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and throughout the state of Maryland. Dr. Hubbard has authored or co-authored over 100 refereed, popular or Extension publications in his career, and has been active in several professional societies including the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP) where he served as President, Executive Secretary and most recently received the Distinguished Service Award, the Society of American Foresters (SAF) where he was elected Fellow in 2018, and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) where he is current Deputy Director of the Extension, and Knowledge Exchange (EKE) Working Party.
He is married to Joni Hubbard and has four sons: Liam, Duncan, Keenan and Sean.
Please join us on Wednesday, June 2 at 6:00pm as we recognize Dr. Hubbard and his fellow 2021 NOESA Honorees. To become a sponsor for this event, please visit www.NCACBSA.org/NOESA. Proceeds will go towards providing Eagle Scout Recognition Kits for new Eagle Scouts in the National Capital Area Council.
