'He came in with such flourish'

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hamilton McCubbin came to Kamehameha Schools in January 2000 with credentials from the best of both worlds. Not only was he a widely respected academic and national authority in child and family studies, he was a Kamehameha graduate, class of 1959.

Hamilton McCubbin was dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Human Ecology before coming to Kamehameha. Advertiser library photo

McCubbin embarked on a pursuit of academic achievement shortly after graduating from Kamehameha, receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees and doctorate in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1964, 1966 and 1970. He pursued further graduate studies at Yale University, the University of Minnesota and Stanford University, where he was an Andrew Mellon Fellow.

His body of work, chronicled in more than 100 articles in professional journals and in books, includes studies as diverse as the stress level of farm families and the trauma impacts of the Gulf War on the Kuwaiti people, a study commissioned by the government of Kuwait.

McCubbin, who was dean of the Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology for 14 years before taking the Kamehameha job, might have returned to Hawai'i years earlier except that he turned down a job in 1992 as senior vice president of administration at the University of Hawai'i.

Then-UH President Albert Simone offered him the job, but McCubbin's wife, Marilyn Ann, then a professor at the Wisconsin-Madison school of nursing, became sick with a third bout of cancer and they decided not to leave her doctors.

McCubbin left Wisconsin-Madison in 1999, saying he was burned out. But the university said yesterday that McCubbin resigned after he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a female faculty member in the school.

In January 2000, McCubbin made history as the first CEO in the 115-year history of the charitable trust. He was hired with the goal of revitalizing the educational mission of the schools and restoring public confidence in the trust, which had been overwhelmed by internal scandal, investigations by state and federal authorities and the resignations of the five former trustees.

"He came in with such flourish and such hope," Trask said.

Daniel White, a Maui-based consultant to independent schools, said McCubbin brought an air of excitement to Kamehameha Schools and its supporters. "He was really charged up about improving the educational lot of the Hawaiian community," White said.

In an interview when he was hired, McCubbin credited Kamehameha for helping him as a student to overcome a difficult period in his life. His father had died and his mother was working full time, making it easy for him to cut classes.

McCubbin, who grew up in Kaimuki, recalled how "Kamehameha Schools negotiated with my mother to take away my keys, my car, my privileges and to make me a boarding student." Instead of enjoying weekend privileges he shouldered a JROTC-issued rifle and marched penalty tours around the basketball court. He said there was nothing for him to do but study.

"Kamehameha gave me boundaries at a time when I didn't know what boundaries were," he said. "Kamehameha shaped me."