Struggling with time management and wanting to spend time in the water both sound like they could be the everyday realities of life for an NSU student. It turns out, they’re also day-to-day realities for NSU’s president, George Hanbury.
In his office, which is decorated with green, colonial-inspired furniture, NSU’s president appeared polished but relaxed in his environment. To him, this job fits right.
“When I first came to the university 18 years ago I thought it made sense,” Hanbury explained. “But prior to that I knew I wanted to teach and be with students because I’ve always enjoyed working with young people and trying to mentor young people. So teaching was important to me.”
Hanbury calls himself NSU’s number one cheerleader. His average day consists of meetings with administrative staff, donors and students. When he has the time, he likes to walk through the University Center or attend a game and talk to students. He said that some students find him unapproachable at first, but get more comfortable during the conversation.
“I’ll ask students how things are going, what they’re studying, what they’re interested in,” Hanbury said. “Usually I find them very engaging. But I’m usually the one that needs to crack the ice. I think sometimes students won’t come up to me. But if I go up to them and ask how things are going they’ll start a conversation.”
While Hanbury said that he doesn’t always relate to students on a social level, he hasn’t found that there’s a generational gap. But then again, he may have a lot in common with them. He struggled to find his passion and to pay for college.
“When I was a young man and graduated from high school…maybe you can tell by my white hair, financial aid was not available,” he joked.
So, the future president of a university had to work for his tuition. He got a job with his father, who was a dock master in Norfolk, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay. Hanbury worked on floating cranes, firing boilers and operating cranes and bulldozers to pay his way through college. He said that his experiences on the bay gave him an appreciation for people of all income levels and their stories.
As a junior in college, Hanbury wanted to go to law school, because he thought that lawyers made a lot of money. : “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
“That changed my whole perspective and caused me to go into public service,” Hanbury said. “And that became my passion.”
After graduating, Hanbury spent 30 years as a city manager in four different cities: Ft. Lauderdale and three other cities in Virginia. While working for eight years as city manager in Ft. Lauderdale, he went to night school at FAU and got his PhD.
Of course, he said that NSU is a better school.
Now, as president of a university, Hanbury said that he struggles most with time management and prioritizing. he keeps the bigger picture in mind.
“I look at a vision of where we want to go,” Hanbury explained. “On each day I prioritize and have a pretty good idea of what my week looks like. I put the greatest amount of time into the things that would help to accomplish that vision.”
When he’s not working, Hanbury said he likes to sail, but that’s no secret. Almost every wall in his office has a picture or a painting of a sailboat, and in one of the corners sits a replica of the USS Constitution, one of the first battleships built by the U.S. Navy. Hanbury has a 20 foot fishing boat that he likes to take out, although he said he hasn’t had much time for that lately. Sometimes, he takes his wife out on the boat to go to dinner.
Hanbury noted that he’s never really left the water. He said, “I enjoyed sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, and I’ve always enjoyed seas. And it looks like I’ve always enjoyed rough seas. Every place I’ve been, whether in Virginia or in Florida has been on the water. Some body of water.”
Hanbury also listed swimming and power-walking among his hobbies, saying that his hobbies aren’t that great. On the personality scale, he said he falls somewhere between introversion and extroversion.
“I know that in order to do my job I’ve got to be more outgoing and extroverted,” he said. “But when I’m home I enjoy reading a book and some solitude and I need thinking…I’m not always outgoing and energetic. When I want to relax I enjoy reading a good book.”
But Hanbury said that work really is his hobby, and that the most rewarding thing about his job is the students.
“I enjoy the interaction,” he said. “I enjoy hearing their ideas about how to make the university a better university. I enjoy hearing of their experiences and how they feel they’re learning something.”
Hanbury’s advice to students is to seek their passion, not their fortune. He said that if students follow their passion, their fortune will follow. From aspiring lawyer to city manager to educator to president, Hanbury followed his own advice. Despite 30 years in public service, Hanbury values his role as president above any other occupation he’s held.
“During my six years as president I feel like it’s been the most noble thing I’ve ever done,” Hanbury said.
Caption: For NSU President George Hanbury, the students are the most rewarding part of his job.
Credit: J. Ramos
