THE LIBBY YEARS
Guiding Heart Richard Murray Libby, PhD, arrived on campus 11 years ago, sharing the new president’s last name. As it turned out, he also brought perspective that would create his own distinction.
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BY MICHAEL CANDELARIA
ichard Libby was all strapped in. A 19-year-old, Libby was moments away from his first official Super Modified Sportsman car race.
Yet, there was still time for a pep talk or, more accurately, a reality check from his big brother. Philip Libby, one of three older brothers, walked up to the driver’s side of the car and told Richard he was going to win the race. Richard responded somewhat sheepishly, “I’m going to try.” That was a mistake. Philip became irate and ripped into his little brother. “Libbys don’t try,” Philip exclaimed. “You are going to go out there and win this race. And if you don’t think so, you should get out of that seat!” As Richard retold the story from nearly 60 years ago, he emphasized the absence of arrogance in his brother’s voice. Instead, there was merely expectation. Young Richard didn’t win that race. In fact, he flipped his car, the unavoidable consequence of circumstances. But he hasn’t forgotten that day — not so much because of the framed photo he keeps of that car lying upside-down, but more because of his brother’s message. “That became a really important principle to me,” Richard said. “If you’re going to do something, you put your heart and soul in it.” Later, Philip would become a Hall of Fame Driver in New England, succeeding in what was a forerunner to NASCAR. So, too, would another brother, Robert. The oldest brother, George, was a race-engine builder.
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STETSON | Spring 2020
Richard Murray Libby, PhD
Richard, who began tinkering with cars at the age of 8, became a pretty fair racer, briefly, in his own right. Even more, being raised in the small country town of Buxton, Maine, during the 1940s and ’50s, Richard grew to be patient and tenacious. Decades later, those characteristics, combined with his advancement through higher education, would greatly impact Stetson. In a very good way.
NO FAIRY-TALE START Richard Murray Libby was the youngest of nine children, with the oldest being almost 21 years his senior. He was an 11th-generation product of an English fisherman who arrived on the coast of Maine in 1635. Not coincidentally, Richard enjoys genealogy, now nearing the completion of a book that identifies, in minute detail, everyone on the paternal and maternal sides of his family tree — more than 250 descendants. He’s been working on the book since 1977. His early story, though, wasn’t exactly a fairy tale. His words: “I learned from my parents that, ‘Richard, the world does not revolve around you.’” Libby graduated from high school in 1960 but didn’t receive a bachelor’s degree until nine years later before ultimately earning a doctorate in 1977. During the years in between, he went from being
