As a young man, David Bobb knew that his future would involve politics, but he never would have pictured himself as a Hillsdale College faculty member working from Capitol Hill.
In the spring of 1996, Bobb exited with Hillsdale diploma in hand, bound for Boston College, where he would eventually receive his Ph.D. in political science. For five years, he worked as a research associate at the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy, a think tank based in Boston. During Bobb’s tenure at the Pioneer Institute he spent most of his time researching education reform policy, a topic he still addresses in his lecture tours.
In 2000, Bobb received a call from the recently installed president of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn, asking if he would be interested in teaching a civics program at his alma mater. Shortly after the phone call, Bobb left Boston to “return to the thriving metropolis of Hillsdale” and began his career at the college.
For six years, Bobb instructed civics courses for high school teachers through the Charles R. and Kathleen K. Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence, a program designed to educate K-12 teachers through a series of seminars centered around the liberal arts. He served as director of the program for 10 years. To date, more than 3,000 teachers have enrolled in Bobb’s seminars, 60 percent of which have been made up of public school educators.
After his placement in Washington, D.C., in 2008 to serve as director of the Kirby Center, Bobb continued his involvement in teacher education in Washington, D.C., for another two years. Bobb now serves as the Executive Director of Citizen Education at the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship.
Shortly after his arrival in Washington, D.C., Bobb was introduced to his wife, Anna, who at the time worked in communication and development for World Relief, a non-profit organization based in Maryland.
“Meeting my wife was easily the best thing that’s happened to me in D.C.,” he said.
Within nine months of meeting, the two were married. They now have two sons, Walker, 4, and Michael, 2. This year, Walker begins his first year of preschool.
“Living in the city is a challenge with little ones,” Bobb said. “But they’ve seen so much as little people.”
The theme of Bobb’s classes on the Washington, D.C., campus has not significantly deviated from his favorite subjects that he taught at Hillsdale. During his tenure at Hillsdale College, Christianity and politics was among his favorite courses to teach.
“It was an exploration of the Augustinian questions,” Bobb said. “ How can you have dual citizenship between the city of God and city of man? [As a] believer in God, where is your primary allegiance?”
At the Washington, D.C., campus, Bobb instructs a course on statesmanship that delves into similar themes. As a lecturer on politics with a special interest in citizen education, Bobb finds wrestling for the common good is a duty lost on politicians. For that reason, he thinks interning on the Hill during an academic term is an invaluable experience for a Hillsdale student.
“It is an essential complement to what happens on campus,” Bobb said. “It allows one to see the relationship between theory and practice.”
Kate Possehl, a former student of Bobb’s recognizes that his understanding of legislation is much different than her employers.
“He has a lot of knowledge and insight,” Possehl said. “He looks much more at the basis of legislation, what it looks like compared to the constitutional history and western history.”
Bobb‘s latest book, “Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America’s Greatest Virtue,” discusses five inspirational Americans who have influenced Bobb’s political perspective: Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Abigail Adams, George Washington, and Frederick Douglass. The book’s release date is Nov. 5.
