Dr. Charles M. Hubbard, Executive Director

The Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Institute for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy is Dr. Charles Hubbard.  Hubbard is Professor of History and Lincoln Historian at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) in Harrogate, Tennessee. He was previously Director of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum for 12 years, where on behalf of the Museum and the University, he developed some impressive relationships with Lincoln scholars from all over the world. From 1998 to 2002, Hubbard also served as vice president for Lincoln studies at LMU.

In 2009, Hubbard was one of the distinguished Lincoln scholars to receive a special Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial edition of The Order of Lincoln, the highest honor bestowed by the State of Illinois. Some of the Bicentennial honorees were recognized for a single accomplishment, such as a powerful work of art, a particularly significant publication or artistic production, and were recognized for a lifetime of work to perpetuate Lincoln’s legacy. Hubbard earned the honor for his lifetime of work, which includes five books.

In 2005, Hubbard received the Lincoln Diploma of Honor, an honor that the Board of Trustees of Lincoln Memorial University gives to those individuals who perpetuate Lincoln’s legacy by providing significant contributions.

Hubbard received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Mercer University, his Master of Arts in History from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. During his doctoral work, his specialty area was the diplomatic history of the Civil War era.

Hubbard has taught at Middle Tennessee State University, Cleveland State Community College and UT Knoxville. Under the auspices of the Fulbright Foundation, Hubbard taught American History at the University of Mahasarakham in Thailand and De La Salle University in the Philippines.

Hubbard is a Senior Fulbright Specialist and has received several grants for research and study abroad, including the Philippines and Malaysia. Research grants have included the Bernadotte Schmitt Research Grant and the New Jersey Historical Commission. He received the prestigious Mellon Foundation research grant from the Appalachian College Association. He is a John Nicholas Brown Fellow at Brown University. Hubbard has received a number of honors throughout his career at LMU including the Lincoln Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement, the Lincoln Diploma of Honor and was inducted into LMU’s Literary Hall of Fame in 2007.

Hubbard has published five books, including: The Many Faces of Lincoln in 1997, The Burden of Confederate Diplomacy in 1998, Lincoln and His Contemporaries in 1999, Historic Reflection on U.S. Governance and Civil Society in 2001, and Corregidor in War and Peace in 2006.