FORT WORTH, TEXAS (FWAA) - Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr., the Chancellor of Troy University, has been selected as the 12th recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
Coordinated by the staff at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, the Armed Forces Merit Award was created in June 2012 to honor an individual and/or a group with a military background or involvement with the military that has impacted college football.
The official announcement of Dr. Hawkins as the 2024 AFMA recipient was made on the 2-3 p.m. ET edition today of Sports Center on ESPN. During the interview, Dr. Hawkins was in Vietnam as Troy University collaborates with Southeast Asian universities to offer undergraduate programs.
Brant Ringler, executive director of the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, and Andrea Adelson, 2024 FWAA President and ESPN.com national college football reporter, congratulated Dr. Hawkins as the 2024 recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award.
“From the first time I met Dr. Hawkins at a conference, I was impressed with his credentials and felt he was a worthy nominee for the award,” said Ringler. “Dr. Hawkins is a Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient. He oversaw his school’s transition in the early 1990s to Division I competition. He continues to serve on the College Football Playoffs board of managers.”
Adelson added: “In this time of the changing dynamics in intercollegiate sports, Dr. Hawkins' experienced leadership with all aspects of higher education has proven invaluable. He is the longest-serving chief executive officer of a public university in the United States, making his voice, thoughts and perspective invaluable as we move forward into a new landscape for college football and all intercollegiate athletics."
The last two months have been interesting for Dr. Hawkins, who announced in September that he intended to retire in October. But Troy’s Board of Trustees denied the request, and Dr. Hawkins rescinded that decision three weeks later.
“Our goal since arriving at Troy University has been to make this a world-class institution,” said Dr. Hawkins, continuing with a school he has served in since September 1989. “I am convinced that the greatest days are ahead for our extraordinary University, and as Helen Keller said, ‘Together we can do so much.’”
Karl Benson, the Sun Belt Conference commissioner from 2012-2019, said: “Jack Hawkins epitomizes this award with his long-time commitment and dedication to higher education, the military, and the sport of football. As the commissioner of three FBS conferences over the past 30 years, I have worked with 50 universities, over 70 presidents and chancellors. When asked if I had a favorite, I quickly said it was easy - Jack Hawkins.”
"A recipient of the Purple Heart for his service during the war in Vietnam, Jack Hawkins exemplifies the very best of what it means to serve, both in and beyond the military,” said National Football Foundation President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “His unwavering dedication to students as the chancellor at Troy and his leadership in creating pathways for their success in academics, athletics and the military truly reflects the mission of the Armed Forces Merit Award. Troy has built a great football program on his watch, and his nomination for the Merit Award is a great tribute to his major impact at Troy, the military community and the football program."
Troy Director of Athletics Brent Jones said: “Dr. Hawkins has dedicated his entire adult life to serving the people of the United States Armed Forces, first as a lieutenant and platoon leader in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and then as an advocate for our military members and their families during his professional career as a higher education administrator. Because of Dr. Hawkins’ visionary leadership, Troy University has an exemplary relationship with the United States Armed Forces and is a leader nationally in providing educational opportunities for our service members. On behalf of Troy Athletics, our fans, our staff and our student-athletes, I congratulate Dr. Hawkins on this well-deserved recognition for his lifelong devotion to our military.”
In a letter supporting his nomination for the Armed Forces Merit Award, Gordon Stone, the executive director of the Higher Education Partnership in Alabama and mayor of the Town of Pike Road, wrote, "Dr. Hawkins has been personally engaged in the expansion and growth that changed the landscape of the Sun Belt Conference and took football to the highest level."
Josiah Bonner, the President at the University of South Alabama, said in her recommendation letter, “Year in and year out, Chancellor Hawkins has positioned Troy as one of the most pro-military college campuses in America. Under his leadership, the Troy for Troops Center was created to meet the unique needs of military-affiliated students. Troy also introduced the Military and Family Scholarship for active-duty military, reservists and their spouses and dependent children.”
Brad Smith, the President at Marshall University, said Dr. Hawkins’ “exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication to education and profound commitment to our armed forces exemplify his status as a revered national leader and an embodiment of true American patriotism.”
Upon completing his bachelor’s degree in 1967 from the University of Montevallo, Hawkins was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a platoon leader during the Vietnam War. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and a citation from the Korean Marine Corps for his combat duty. Dr. Hawkins has overseen an era of change and growth at the school as he led the merger of the worldwide Troy State University System into the unified Troy University, an initiative called “One Great University.”
More than $375 million has been invested in capital improvements by the Hawkins Administration, including new academic buildings on all four of Troy’s Alabama campuses.
During his Troy tenure, academic standards for admission increased, new degree programs were established in all academic colleges, and intercollegiate athletics joined the highest level of NCAA competition. A Division II member when Dr. Hawkins became Troy’s chancellor, the school moved up to Division I-AA in 1994 and transitioned to Football Bowl Subdivision in 2001.
Other recipients of the Armed Forces Merit Award: Nate Boyer of the University of Texas (2012), Brandon McCoy of the University of North Texas (2013), Daniel Rodriguez from Clemson University (2014), Bret Robertson of Westminster College (Fulton, Mo., 2015), Steven Rhodes from Middle Tennessee State University (2016), Dr. Chris Howard from Robert Morris University (2018), Army West Point assistant coach Mike Viti (2019), Collin O'Donnell of Bluefield College of Virginia, (2020), Damien Jackson of the University of Nebraska (2021) and Tyler Huff of Furman University (2023).
Kansas State’s football team was honored in 2017 as the sixth recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award for the university’s partnership with the United States Army, which created a bond between the school’s athletic department and the Iron Rangers at Fort Riley. The Paris Johnson Jr. Foundation won the award in 2022 as the consensus All-American from Ohio State coordinates a group to aid senior veterans.
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