Hawkins, upon graduation from Lafayette College in 1964, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army and served two years on active duty (1965-1967) with six months in Korea, followed by a year in South Vietnam. 

He received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering with a second major in Economics. After serving in Vietnam, he earned an MBA from the Wharton School and embarked on a 45-plus-year career in the real estate industry. 

Throughout his real estate career, he led development teams at Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Amelia Island, Fla., for 10 years before moving to Old Town Alexandria, Va. From there he served as CEO of five wholly owned subsidiaries of Chemical Bank, managing real estate assets throughout the country. After a 16 year engagement as a senior managing director of the USAA Real Estate Investment Company, he retired to become president and CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP). 

He was co-founder of AEDP's Capitol Post Initiative, which prepared military veterans and their spouses to think and act like entrepreneurs. Capitol Post provided the coaching, business acceleration programs, network connections, and office space to test risk and achieve their goals.