You may have seen them walking across campus, or eating a healthy lunch in your dining hall and wondered why such a unique couple comes to campus every day.
M. Neil Browne and wife of 26 years, Nancy Kubasek – who often wear colorful designer clothing – stand out in a crowd of typical Northwest Ohio college students wearing hooded sweatshirts and jeans.
But there is more to this couple than their choice of style.
While most married couples prefer to part ways in the morning, Browne and Kubasek choose to teach on the same campus because they enjoy being with each other.
“We not only teach on the same campus, but we’re one floor apart, and in the same college,” said Browne, professor of economics.
This degree of closeness is something most married couples never experience, according to Kubasek, professor of legal studies.
“I think for some people it would be too much,” she said. “It just seems to work out really well for us.”
Browne, assisted by Kubasek, leads the IMPACT learning community and the couple resides in Offenhauer as resident scholars during the work week. They spend most weekends and holidays at their home in Las Vegas.
IMPACT member Chad Puterbaugh, sophomore, finds living in Offenhauer with the couple to be unique.
“They are both people whom I respect, and I feel pretty weird meeting them in the bathroom or walking through the hallways in a toweI,” he said, adding, “though, I think that that is just an idiosyncrasy of mine.”
Living in Offenhauer with IMPACT members, such as Chad, and teaching students are two of their common interests. They believe sharing interests is one of the key elements to a successful marriage.
“There has to be a mutuality of passion, energy and interests,” Browne said.
Exercise, reading, travel, blackjack, yoga and dancing are a few other things they both enjoy.
The couple also agrees that shared political views are another essential part of their successful marriage.
“Politics are important to both of us, as a signal of who a person is,” Browne said.
The couple met while pursuing interests and passions at law school. They were nothing more than fellow students, until they discovered their mutual interest in disco dancing. Browne won Kubasek over on the dance floor.
Kubasek thinks dating in law school contributed to building a strong relationship.
“When my husband and I met we both knew where we were going to be,” Kubasek said. “I think you’re better off if you don’t find someone in college.”
The couple doesn’t claim to know the secret of a happy marriage. But they do know what works for them, and that they’re happy together.
Kubasek offers some advice for finding “the one.”
“I think you meet that person and it’s just like ‘wow’,” she said. “You don’t think about any one else. I was just consumed with the relationship.”
Browne credits his happiness to the fact that he did not settle for anything less than what he wanted.
“My wife and I, we want a whole lot out of a relationship, and we get it.” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t want much from relationships, and they get it.”
