Professor of Law
Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame, IN
Secretary-Treasurer of HFAB
Kim Gilmer, HFAB Communications Chair: How would you describe your vocation, and how are you pursuing that in your current position?
Bruce Huber: Can’t we start with an easier question? 🙂 I’m a law professor at Notre Dame; that’s the easy part. But my understanding of my vocation is still incomplete. My sense of call to my current position is quite strong: I love my job; I’m passionate about what I do; and my experience and my relationships have reinforced my sense that God has directed me to this particular spot. But I also believe that one’s calling can evolve, and I’ve sensed that perhaps God has other things for me to do, even within this position. In particular, I’d like to use my professional freedom to serve the church more directly in the future — I have a strong sense of call in regards to service of the global church.
K.G.: How has being a Harvey Fellow affected your vocation and life?
B.H.: The Harvey Fellows program has been an extraordinary gift to me. I genuinely believe that I would not be here without it. I started my PhD program with three kids in tow, so the fellowship stipend made all the difference. The Summer Institute (at Westmont College–the year that Dallas Willard came) was absolutely fantastic and has reverberated in my life in various ways over the intervening years. And it’s very encouraging to think of myself as being part of a larger family of Fellows that extends into vastly different fields of work and different parts of the world.
K.G.: What about your work most excites or inspires you right now?
B.H.: I love to teach. I even love to teach things that might seem dry to others. I’m teaching courses on Energy Law and Natural Resources Law at the moment, and I find these areas absolutely fascinating. But as I mentioned earlier, I’m inspired also to serve the church more directly. I would love to see the global church emerge as a steward of the physical environment, as a manifestation of our love for neighbor. I think the church has a remarkable opportunity to love and serve all people in the way we treat, care for, and think about the created world–and that in so doing, we can bear witness to both God’s creative work and the redemption made manifest in Christ.
K.G.: What have you noticed God doing in and through you recently?
B.H.: Another hard question! I’m not sure he has given me the vision to see clearly on this point. I am very involved in my local church and my family, and I hope that people are drawn closer to God by that involvement. And I thoroughly love working with the students here at Notre Dame. Lately, my prayer has been that God would help me better to screen out those activities that bring some form of self-satisfaction but that don’t accomplish his purposes.
