Lawrence C. Hawkins

Lawrence C. Hawkins was a pioneering African American member of UC’s administration. He was born in 1919 to South Carolina sharecroppers and moved to Cincinnati in 1926. Hawkins earned a Bachelor's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati in 1942. After graduation, Hawkins joined the army and served with the famous Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. When he returned from the war he became a teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools, first at Douglas Elementary, and then as principal at Samuel Ach Junior High in Avondale. Hawkins later continued his education at UC, earning his Masters in 1951, and then his Ph.D. in 1970. In 1967, Hawkins became a professor then in 1969 he became the university’s first African American dean when he took the helm of UC’s new College of Community Services, then located here in French Hall. In 1974 Hawkins was promoted to Vice President of Continuing Education and Metropolitan Affairs, and in 1976 he became the University’s Executive Vice President of Administration. After his career at UC, Hawkins went on to help found the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Before his death in 2009, Cincinnati Public Schools and Western Southern Life Insurance established the Lawrence C. Hawkins Teacher of the Year Award in his honor.