Theatre professor receives NWC award for excellence in faith and learning

Dr. Robert Hubbard, professor of theatre at Northwestern College, has been named the 2024 recipient of the college’s Faculty Excellence in Faith and Learning Award. He was recognized during commencement exercises on May 11.

The award honors and encourages the calling and responsibility of Christian faculty to devote time and energy to scholarship and creative expression in ways that faithfully express the wonder, truth and beauty of God’s revelation in Scripture and creation.

Hubbard has been a member of Northwestern’s faculty since 2002. A recipient of a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival fellowship to study at the O’Neill Critics Institute, he is a frequent contributor to Think Christian, a faith and popular culture blog.

“His reviews always provide insightful commentary on faith and culture and never fail to help me see movies and TV series more deeply,” wrote one faculty member who nominated Hubbard for the award. “He also publishes in the Reformed Journal and numerous theatre journals, gives regular presentations, and helps students see the faith integration in each of the productions Bob is involved in as director, actor or playwright.”

Hubbard is the author of two books and several autobiographical one-man shows that he has performed at fringe theatre festivals, schools, churches and community centers. His most recent book, “Scenes With My Son: Love and Grief in the Wake of Suicide,” is a poignant tribute to his son, Auggie, who took his life at the age of 19.

“In Bob’s book about his son’s death—and in his public presentations about that book—we experience the reality of Bob’s deep faith, his professional skills as a storyteller, and his ability to set the stage for those who, for one reason or another, need to hear his message,” wrote a faculty colleague. “God’s work in the world, as we see evidenced in Bob’s stories, is indeed full of wonder, truth, and a sometimes terrible, terrible beauty.”

Hubbard earned doctoral and master’s degrees in theatre from Bowling Green State University and a bachelor’s degree in theatre and English from Minot State University.