Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Donna Hobbs

If you frequent ASU’s campus activities, then you’ve probably seen Dr. Donna Hobbs at them, either volunteering or just enjoying the experience.

“I like helping with the events, and I enjoy going to the Pig Outs and basketball games” she says. “It’s fun to see the students outside of class.”

The associate professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Physics has been a faculty member at ASU for 14 years. She began teaching when her youngest child, Jenna, started the first grade, and her brother-in-law, who is Dr. Stephen Hobbs in the psychology department, helped Dr. Hobbs get started at ASU.

While in college, Dr. Hobbs had a hard time deciding on a major, she says. It was a toss-up between English and chemistry. After taking her first English course, however, she decided chemistry was for her.

“I also like biology, and I took a lot of biology courses, but I didn’t like cutting things up,” she says, wincing. “So I thought biochemistry was a nice combination.”

Dr. Hobbs, a native of Florida, and her husband, David, moved to Georgia after Mr. Hobbs relocated to the Savannah River Site. She says Georgia is a very nice fit for them. “He’s from North Carolina, and Georgia is right in-between.”

And the couple hopes to visit somewhere outside the United States again very soon, says Dr. Hobbs. They’ve traveled to England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, China, and South America. “We are hoping to go to New Zealand within the next year or so,” she says, smiling.

While traveling, the couple could show off their new dance moves.

“Until last year, any outside activities revolved around my children’s activities,” says Dr. Hobbs. “Now, we’re finding new things to do. We’ve started taking dance lessons, but it’s just for fun. We both have two left feet!”

Dr. Hobbs sings in the Grace United Methodist Choir and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the American Chemical Society, the Georgia Academy of Science, and Alpha Chi Sigma Chemistry Fraternity.

She earned a bachelor’s degree, receiving the highest honors in chemistry, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Vanderbilt University.

Who: Dr. Donna Hobbs

Position: Associate professor chemistry

Family: Husband, David; children, Michal, Stephen, and Jenna

Time at ASU: 14 years

What do you love most about working at ASU? “What I love most is when a student whom I have worked with for four years finds out that he or she has been accepted to medical or dental school! That’s what keeps me coming in day after day.”

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