Written by Doug Goodnough
Dan DuBois, ’91, had never heard of Hillsdale College as a senior at Lansing Everett High School, just an hour or so from the Hillsdale campus.
A visit from then-Charger baseball coach Pat Riepma changed all that. And now, he couldn’t imagine what his life would have been like without his Hillsdale experience.
“If (Riepma) hadn’t come (to recruit me), I don’t know what I would have been doing,” said DuBois, who grew up in the urban neighborhoods of Lansing. “I feel pretty blessed. It’s the kind of thing that changes people’s lives.”
DuBois used his accounting degree to carve out a career with several organizations. He started at a local accounting firm out of college, then was named controller of Michigan International Speedway, where he worked for more than 13 years. DuBois left the speedway to become chief financial officer of a Lansing construction company, then served as the CEO of the non-profit Square One Education Network, which focused on STEM education.
In 2019 he returned to MIS as senior director, and in 2022 was named senior director of NASCAR, which now owns MIS and 15 other tracks around the country. He said former MIS owner and racing legend Roger Penske once told him to “learn every square inch of this property.”
“That means I’m supposed to be there to support the people in the business, so I need to know what they are dealing with,” DuBois said.
He credits his Hillsdale education for much of his professional and personal success.
“I came to what my values are now, and I think they were influenced by Hillsdale and my parents,” DuBois said. “Hillsdale didn’t tell me what to think; they wanted me to think for myself.”
He said the annual Florida spring trips and the relationships he had with teammates were things that stand out about his Charger baseball experience.
“I was never an out-front type of a person,” said the former captain who earned all-conference honors as a senior infielder, recording a .330 batting average. “I just enjoyed listening in and being with the guys. I always felt embraced by the baseball team.”
DuBois also met his wife, Erin Brandner DuBois, ’93, at Hillsdale. They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and have two daughters.
“Whenever you talk to people about Hillsdale, everybody knows Hillsdale,” he said. “I think it’s a special thing to have graduated from Hillsdale. And other people think that, too.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in April 2023
