Mary S. Hubbard
Dr. Mary S. Hubbard, a distinguished structural geologist and professor emerita at Montana State University, brought her unparalleled expertise and passion for global engagement to the 2023-2024 Thompson International Lecture Tour. Across six countries, Dr. Hubbard inspired over 560 students and 210 faculty members through thought-provoking lectures.
About Dr. Mary Hubbard
Professor Mary Hubbard is a structural geologist whose work aims to better understand tectonic processes of mountain building. This work has necessitated the collaboration with petrologists and geochronologists to bring dimensions of time and temperature/depth to these processes. Hubbard’s work started in the Nepal Himalaya with a thermobarometric study of the Main Central Thrust zone. Since that early work she has also studied fault zones together with graduate students and research colleagues in the western Himalaya of Pakistan, the Western Alps of Europe, the northern Appalachians, the southern Rocky Mountains, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Mauritainides of eastern Senegal. Other opportunities let her pursue new directions in climate studies in the Nepal Himalaya with the National Geographic and in natural CO2 occurrence in a structural dome of northern Montana. Most recently her work has brought her back to fault zones that cut orthogonal to the mountain belt in the Nepal Himalaya.
Hubbard received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988. She started her faculty career at the University of Maine, following a NATO post-doctoral fellowship at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland. She moved to Kansas State University in 1996 where she served as a professor and then department head. An opportunity to serve as the Dean of the College of Science brought Professor Hubbard to Utah State University in 2007. With a passion for internationalization in higher education, she served at Utah State as the Vice Provost for Global Engagement from 2009-2013 before returning to her role as professor. In 2015, she moved to MSU where she served as Department Head for three years before returning to the faculty. In 2017 she was a Fulbright Specialist at the Tri Chandra Multiple Campus, Kathmandu, Nepal. She received a Fulbright Scholar fellowship to return to Tri Chandra for 5 months in 2022 to continue her collaborative research on Himalayan geology. In 2023 she retired from MSU, but continues to work with students at both MSU and Tribhuvan University in Nepal.
Highlights from the Lecture Tour
In her blog, Dr. Hubbard shared reflections on the challenges and triumphs of her journey. She was particularly inspired by the enthusiasm of students, who often worked with limited resources but demonstrated boundless curiosity and determination. Dr. Hubbard also expressed deep gratitude for the cultural exchanges that enriched her tour. From vibrant discussions on geoscience to shared meals with local communities, these moments underscored the global bonds forged through science.
Dr. Hubbard's Tour Blog
Discover Mary Hubbard's experience traveling in the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Nepal on her 2023-2024 James B. Thompson, Jr., Distinguished International Lecture Tour.
View Hubbards's CV