[1] Hulbert grew up in Adams Center New York, where he spent most of his time in extracurricular activities and helping out on his family's milk delivery business.
[2][3] Hulbert's passion for sports even led him to try out for the Philadelphia Phillies; the try out ended with his receiving a concussion as result of a lack of protection and a hit from a professional pitcher.
[2] While he was grateful for his family, he felt driven to set his own course away from the strenuous life style he grew up with and thus wanted to pursue higher education.
[2][3] He was influenced to go to Alfred University by his chemistry teacher, Lyle Cady, who showed him the campus and helped convince his parents to let him go there.
During his time at Clemson, he along with C. Clifford Fain and Michael J. Eitel, was given a grant by the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the viability of water disposable/biodegradable glass and conducted a multiple year study that culminated in a report made to the EPA in 1971.