Faculty of the Week: Alison Hobbie

By Otto Do and Chieko Immamura

“I have known Ms. Hobbie since 1987, when she participated in my wedding as one of my bride's best friends,” Science Instructor Townley Chisholm said. “She was then—as she is now—always smiling, always caring for others and always making her community better.”

Beloved Chemistry Instructor, Girls’ Crew coach, Dow House dorm affiliate and Science Department Chair Alison Hobbie has used her light-hearted and caring nature to positively affect students and faculty alike in her time at the Academy. 

Hobbie’s interest in science grew from her mother and older brother’s love of nature. “My mom was a huge gardener. She spent a lot of time outside, and she knew a lot about the birds and all things outdoors. My brother, who was very into critters, would bring home buckets of frogs and things like that,” Hobbie said. This awareness of general science, coupled with a transformative high school chemistry course, led Hobbie to make chemistry her profession.

Instead of becoming a chemist, Hobbie opted to become a teacher due to her love for sharing knowledge. “I was a camp counselor through the years of college, and I just loved being with kids and helping them… I love to teach others how to do something that I love to do. So I thought to myself, ‘I'd love to be a teacher. Let me show somebody else how to do what I love,’” Hobbie said.

In her time at Exeter, Hobbie has found the Academy’s Harkness pedagogy to be as much a learning experience as it is a teaching one. “From my first day of sitting at the Harkness table, I was sold. I'll never forget that first day. As a teacher, especially as a science teacher, normally you're standing behind the sort of demo desk up front, and there’s often a physical barrier between you and the students,” Hobbie said. “I felt much more immersed in what they were learning, and it helped me to get a better understanding of which topics students had more or little difficulty with.”

Hobbie’s group-oriented mindset translates into how she coaches the Academy’s Girls’ Novice Crew team. “Ms. Hobbie has been a fantastic coach for rowers new to the sport. With her focus on full participation in a supportive environment, she has created a safe plan to teach rowers to row and coxswains to cox in a safe, graduated way,” Classics Instructor and Girls’ Crew coach Sally Morris said. “Within a month, she has them ready for their first race, and they come off the water beaming. With such a positive introduction to rowing, Ms. Hobbie has provided me with great varsity athletes and full team players for many years.”

Lower Siona Jain agreed. “She immediately put me at ease during my coxswain interview with her warm smile and personality. Upon meeting her, you can already tell that Ms. Hobbie is the type of faculty to always be there for her students, inside and out of class.

Even now, I know her to be a kind, yet pushing coach,” Jain said. “She seems to always know how to get more out of her rowers while uplifting them all the same.”

As in the boathouse, Hobbie’s passion shines through in the classroom. “It was also very nice to have her as a teacher because she seemed so passionate about chemistry. Every class, she’s always enthusiastic to share her interest with us. She's a great teacher to have, and I consider myself very lucky to know her inside and out of the classroom setting,” Herman said.

According to Dow resident and upper William Vietor, Hobbie’s concentration “on making the material fun” is what makes her so popular. “Her class, though difficult, never got so bogged down in the details and math that I forgot the fun side of chemistry—the explosions. Whenever it was someone’s birthday, she always paused the class. We’d all sing happy birthday as Ms. Hobbie whipped together a really fun chemistry demonstration,” Vietor said.

“One time, she wrote out the birthday people’s initials in ethanol and set it on fire as we sang, and another time she made a bottle rocket that shot across the room. It’s this lighthearted fun that I’ll always remember Ms. Hobbie for,” Vietor added.

For the majority of Hobbie’s life, helping others has been a constant. “There are a lot of ways we can always help somebody, whether it’s as a part of our profession or we just do something alongside somebody,” Hobbie said. “It’s about reaching out to somebody else and finding out from them what you can do to help, but also showing that you're there for them... I used to say that the four most important words in the world were, ‘How can I help?’” 

Senior Ayush Noori, who worked with Hobbie during his Senior Project, attested to this trait. “Despite the fact that neurobiology was not her specific field of interest, Ms. Hobbie still offered her mentorship in my Senior Project, which allowed me to develop my work and, under her instruction, present in professional symposia,” Noori said. “I am forever grateful for her support. Time and time again, she generously donated her time and expertise when she had no such obligation; it was only out of the kindness of her heart and love for student learning.” 

“Ms. Hobbie is the prime example of a teacher who invests in student learning beyond the bounds of the Harkness table,” Noori continued.

Even when students needed help beyond her role as a Science Instructor, Hobbie was eager to lend a hand. “I was locked out of my school email account all of winter break, and Ms. Hobbie helped me sort things out the first week back at school, which I’ll always be grateful for,” Vietor said.

While she has helped her own colleagues and students in innumerable ways, Hobbie also volunteers her time to Teachers Across Borders, providing professional development opportunities to rural math and science teachers in South Africa.

In her time at Exeter, Hobbie has also worked to encourage underrepresented groups to pursue the sciences. “She and I share a common cause: to encourage advanced science courses to students from backgrounds that are not traditionally represented in the science professions—especially girls,” Physics Instructor Tatiana Waterman said. “For the 16 years I’ve known her, she has worked quietly but substantially promoting this goal at PEA. Once she became Department Head, she has put this goal prominently on the agenda of our department, and she rallied many department colleagues and resources for progress on this.”

Hobbie’s amiability extends to dorm life. Each Thursday, Hobbie hosts Dow Tea with the residents of her dorm. “She brings snacks each week to her duty night on Thursdays, and it’s always delicious. I know she’s been doing a lot of baking and cooking during the quarantine too, and she even tried her hand at sushi!” Vietor said. “She merges this interest with her passion for chemistry, and oftentimes at dorm cookouts, she’s been quick to explain some of the chemistry behind the cooking.”

In her personal relationships, Hobbie’s kindness similarly shines through. “The Chisholm and Hobbie children were raised together with many, many Chobbie dinners and open doors as the children moved back and forth across Spring Street between Langdell where the Hobbies lived and Will House where we lived,” Chisholm said. “I have many happy memories of singing Christmas carols with Ms. Hobbie and her family in warm, brightly lit rooms with cold snowy evenings outside and lots of friends and good food inside.”

Chisholm attributed Hobbie’s affability to her meticulous and caring nature. “Ms. Hobbie is always faultlessly organized; she thinks very carefully about how material is presented and about engaging her students, and she cares for each one of them. I admire her empathy, her sense of service and her courage more than I can say,” Chisholm said.

In the words of Waterman, Hobbie is “eternally cheerful, and a true optimist—she doesn’t complain about bad situations; she tries to find ways to fix them. She always sees the positive in students, and encourages them in every situation.”