Lives of Consequence
Andrew D. Hubbs, 1917
Hobart College Physician, World War I Veteran
The life of Dr. Andrew Dunsmore Hubbs of the Hobart Class of 1917 is distinguished by service to his alma mater, his country and his patients, who for more than 25 years included the students, faculty and staff of Hobart College.
Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Hubbs graduated from Geneva High School in 1913 and enrolled at Hobart, where his father, Rev. John Hubbs, served as Chaplain, and his brother, Horace Newton Hubbs, was a professor of mathematics, treasurer of the College and acting president for a short time. As a student, the younger Hubbs was a member of the varsity football and lacrosse teams, Sigma Phi fraternity and the Student Army Training Corps.
Shortly after graduation, he joined the American Ambulance Corps of the Red Cross with several college friends including fellow Genevan Alfred Nester. Together, they served as drivers with the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps attached to the French army for a period of several months, transporting wounded Allied troops from the frontlines to French hospitals. Upon his return to the States in the fall of 1917, Hubbs entered medical school at Syracuse University as he’d planned before war was declared.
By 1921, he had earned a medical degree and completed an internship at Buffalo City Hospital. He returned to Geneva two years later to establish a practice in which he was engaged for the rest of his life. In 1931, he became physician to Hobart’s athletic teams as well as college physician. Meanwhile, Hubbs served as acting physician for the American Can Company facility in Geneva for 33 years and, by appointment of Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Ontario County coroner.
Throughout his years of service to the Colleges and the community, Hubbs received many accolades, including a citation from the Hobart Alumni Council in 1953 for “service to the college and community.” During the Geneva Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1957, Hubbs was honored with its Citizen Citation for “warm and continued interest in the City of Geneva…[his] contribution to its growth and development…[and in grateful acknowledgement of his] continued and selfless service to thousands of [his] fellow citizens.”
During his long career, Hubbs served as member of numerous professional and civic organizations, including the Board of Visitors of Willard State Hospital, the Hobart Alumni Council, the Ontario County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Association and the Geneva Academy of Medicine, St. Peter’s Church, Rotary Club, Elks, American Legion, Geneva Rod and Gun Club, Seneca Lake Country Club, the Masonic order, and Nu Sigma Nu medical fraternity.
At the time of Hubbs’ passing in 1957, the Colleges’ Board of Trustee wrote, “In this work, often thankless and never greatly remunerative, he served his alma mater and her undergraduates faithfully and unselfishly, with great skill for in diagnosis and a wise understanding of young men.”
Five years after his death in 1962, the Board of Trustees honored Hubbs by naming the Colleges’ new infirmary, a 30-bed facility that would serve students of both Colleges, the Andrew Dunsmore Hubbs infirmary. Today, the HWS health center continues to bear his name.