Sower Award in the Humanities

Anne M. Hubbard to receives the 2024 Sower Award in the Humanities

Humanities Nebraska has selected Anne M. Hubbard to receive the 2024 Sower Award in the Humanities in recognition of her significant contribution to public understanding of the humanities in Nebraska.

Anne M. Hubbard

Hubbard will be honored for her philanthropic support for many Native American projects, the National Willa Cather Center, Omaha Public Library, KANEKO, Joslyn Art Museum, and other humanities-related entities that have made a great impact on cultural and educational life in Nebraska.

Through the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation, Hubbard has enriched personal and public life in Nebraska through her legacy of support in many different programs and organizations, especially those that protect and celebrate Indigenous history and culture.

“Like our Native communities, which emphasize the importance of braiding strands to build strength and resilience, Anne crafts and weaves together seemingly disparate, unrelated groups toward a shared, human outcome—a stronger ‘braided sweetgrass,’ said nominator Jessica Pate. She described Hubbard as “a thoughtful, strategic philanthropist whose forging of interdisciplinary connections embodies the spirit of the humanities.”

A graduate of Omaha’s University of Nebraska Medical Center and a retired pediatric radiologist, Hubbard leads the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation, which was established by the estates of her late parents, Claire Watson Hubbard and Theodore Hubbard. The foundation primarily focuses on the environment/environment and human health, STEM education, and Indigenous issues.

Hubbard will be honored on September 24, 2024 at a benefit reception and dinner preceding the 29th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities in Lincoln. Following the Sower Award presentation at Embassy Suites, Humanities Nebraska and co-sponsor E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues will present “A Conversation with Amy Tan” at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Amy Tan’s appearance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. A live-stream viewing option will also be available.

About the Sower Award in the Humanities

The 2024 Sower Award in the Humanities will be presented on September 24, 2024 at the benefit reception/dinner at Embassy Suites in Lincoln. This fundraising event will immediately precede the 29th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.

Humanities Nebraska presents the Sower Award in the Humanities annually to honor an individual who has made a significant contribution to the public understanding of the humanities in Nebraska. This contribution can be made through any combination of time, expertise, or resources. The selection committee will consider how nominees have helped enrich the lives of Nebraskans through the humanities: history, literature, culture, philosophy, and all the ways we explore what it means to be human.

Each year, the Sower Award in the Humanities is presented prior to the annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities. The award recipient must be present. In some past years the Sower Award was presented to organizations or communities; as of 2016, only individuals are eligible for nomination. Current board and staff members of Humanities Nebraska are not eligible.

Previous honorees have included: 

  • Talented humanities faculty who have taken the humanities to the public beyond their classroom;
  • Committed volunteers dedicating their time and energy to enhancing the cultural life of Nebraska;
  • Thoughtful journalists and filmmakers bringing the humanities to bear on important public issues;
  • Generous philanthropists who have directed significant financial support to humanities-related programs and projects accessible by Nebraskans

Past Sower Award Recipients:

Individuals: Marian Andersen (2015), Robert Audi (1984), Keith Blackledge, Marion Marsh Brown (1994), Gene Bunge, Jack Campbell (2001), State Sen. LaVon Crosby, Beth S. Dotan, Ph.D. (2023), Nancy Duncan, Walter Friedlander, Judi Gaiashkibos, John Gottschalk (2011), Natalie Hahn (2020), Richard Holland (2009), Jane Renner Hood, Ron Hull, Ted Kooser (2006), Frederick Luebke (1990), Robert Manley (1988), Jack McBride, Gary Moulton (2005), Ron Naugle (2003), Robert Nefsky (1998, 2014), Paul Olson, Don Pederson (2010), Rhonda Seacrest (1992), Todd Simon (2017), Joe Seger, Bernice Slote, Annette and Paul Smith (2015), Pamela Hilton Snow (2018), Joe Starita (2019), E.N. “Jack” Thompson (2002), Charles “Chuck” Trimble (2007), Morrie Tuttle, Katherine L. Walter (2022), Don Welch (2004), Larry Wewel, and John R. Wunder (2021).

Institutions*: Beatrice Public Library (1982), Commercial Federal Savings and Loan (1988), Cooper Foundation (1986), El Museo Latino, Holdrege Public Library, InterNorth Foundation, Peter Kiewit Foundation (1992), Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (2008), Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs (1994), the Omaha World Herald (1999), Septemberfest Committee of Omaha, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (1990), Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial and Education Foundation (1984), and the Woods Charitable Fund.

Communities*: Aurora (1984), Central City (1990), Chadron, Cozad, David City (1986), Gering (1994), Henderson, Oakland (1992), Scottsbluff (1994), Seward (1988), and Verdigre.

*As of 2016, institutions and communities are no longer eligible for the Sower Award.

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