|
William H. (Bill) Huber died at his home in Albuquerque on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Bill was born on April 18, 1922 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After graduating Monessen High School in 1940, he left Pennsylvania to attend Ohio State University where he completed his undergraduate degree with honors and also earned his L.L.B. While there he met his soon to be wife of 67 years, Sarah Douglass. After completing law school, he and Sarah moved west to Albuquerque where he began his career at the University of New Mexico in 1947. During his time at UNM Bill became a tenured member of the faculty in the School of Business and Administrative Sciences where he taught Business Law and Labor and Contract Law. He also served as the Dean of the College for a period of time. Though Bill's educational background was in law, his primary interest was in the educational process itself. To this end he founded the University College at UNM. This school within the University's structure was designed to provide an entry point for all students with an emphasis on both academic and vocational counseling for students who were not sure of a major or who needed to complete prerequisites for admission to a degree-granting college. This concept has since become a model for many major institutions throughout the country. Bill served as the first and only Dean of the University College until his retirement in 1983. Under his tenure and guidance, the College was positioned as a degree granting entity within the University with the creation of the Bachelor of University Studies degree. When the university was not in session, Bill's "summer job" for many years was conducting the "Bar Review Course" for law school graduates who were preparing to take the State's rigorous bar examination. Bill himself recorded the highest score ever achieved when he sat for this exam, a record that lasted for many decades. Conducting this class was further evidence of his interest in education even beyond the collegiate level. Many of New Mexico's leaders took Bill's course and believe that they benefited significantly as a result. Bill had many interests outside of the University and educational environs. He was a very active member of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Clubs. He was also an avid golfer, and it was said of Bill that he never gave a putt, nor wanted one given. He was a very principled individual who felt that "gimmies" violated the spirit of the game. His other outdoor pursuits included bird hunting, big game hunting and fishing the Rio Grande from his cabin near Taos. He was a master with his split bamboo fly rod and spent many hours in pursuit of trout in the Cedar Springs and Big Arsenic areas of the river. As much as catching fish, he enjoyed the time in the outdoors and was always willing to share the experience with friends, and teach a little about how to fish along the way. Bill's life and life's work touched and impacted many people. If you majored in business you would meet him in B.A. 306 and 307. There you would learn that he could and would take either side of any issue or argument and defend that position to the end. He would do so with enthusiastic compassion without ever sacrificing his principles. Bill Huber never met an argument that he wouldn't take or a student that he wouldn't try to help. Bill is survived by his loving wife Sarah D. Huber of Albuquerque and his only child, Sarah Kathryn Huber of Ramah, NM. He will be mightily missed. Honeraria may be made to the UNM Foundation at www.unmfund.org or to Heifer International at www.heifer.org
|
