University of West Florida

Willie R. Tubbs, Ph.D., was named Faculty Athletics Representative in the Fall of 2020. Dr. Tubbs, who has been a member of the UWF faculty since 2017, previously worked in athletics media relations and was a sports reporter.

A native of Erwinville, La., Dr. Tubbs holds a B.A. in Journalism from Louisiana College, an M.S. in Interactive Media from Quinnipiac University, and a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi.  

He served as Sports Information Director at Louisiana College from 2009-2012 before being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for the 2012-2013 school year. While at LC, he played a role in communication, compliance, travel and facility management for all sports and coordinated one NCAA softball regional tournament and two American Southwest Conference women's basketball championship tournaments. He has also twice served on the Louisiana College Sports Hall of Fame committee. 
 
In August 2013, Dr. Tubbs moved to Hattiesburg, Miss., to pursue his Ph.D at the University of Southern Mississippi. During the ensuing four years, he continued to be involved in college athletics, first as a graduate assistant and later as a volunteer with Southern Miss Athletics Media Relations. 

Upon completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Tubbs accepted a faculty appointment at UWF, where he teaches numerous writing and reporting courses in the Department of Communication. Since arriving in Pensacola, Dr. Tubbs has also served as a volunteer statistician for Football as well as a public address announcer for Baseball and Men's and Women's Basketball. 

He has also designed new courses in Sports Reporting as well as Sports and Public Relations, and he was part of the team that designed a new sports-based practicum in the Department of Communication. His primary area of research is media history. He's also written a textbook titled The Book of Journal-Lists: An Introduction to Writing for the Communication Professions (Kendall Hunt, 2020).     

Dr. Tubbs lives in Cantonment, Fla., with his wife, Mary Beth, and their sons, Patten and Baylor.