Background
Hawkins was the son of William D. Hawkins and his wife the former Wilma Stolworthy.
Hawkins was the son of William D. Hawkins and his wife the former Wilma Stolworthy.
Hawkins was raised in Provo, Utah and graduated from Provo High School.
He then joined the United States Army Air Corps with which he served as a radio operator for the Pacific Theatre of Operations of World World War World War II On September 11, 1946 Hawkins married Norma Jean Jones in the Salt Lake Temple. He earned his law degree from Northwestern University. In 1952–1953, Hawkins was a law clerk to Fred M. Vinson.
He was then a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School,
Hawkins then joined the law firm of Wilkinson, Cragun, Barker & Hawkins, where he was involved in cases for Native American tribes for payments from the United States government.
From 1957 to 1973, Hawkins was a professor at the University of Michigan. While in Michigan Hawkins was a consultant to the state legislature on forming laws.
He was also the executive secretary of the Michigan Law Revision Commission and worked with the Michigan Supreme Court in formulating rules for jury instruction. Hawkins co-authored two casebooks on tort law.
Hawkins served for a time as bishop of the Ann Arbor Ward.
He was acting dean of Brigham Young University"s law school from 1975 to 1977 and dean from 1981 to 1985 and was a professor there until 1991. Hawkins also was a visiting professor at the University of Georgia, Pepperdine University, Washburn University, and the University of New Mexico. He also took a two-year leave from Brigham Young University to serve as executive director of the Florida Academic Task Force for Review of Insurance and Tort Systems.
Hawkins was appointed to the Judge Nominating Commission of the 10th United States Circuit Court by Jimmy Carter.
He also served on Utah"s Alcohol Control Board. Carl and Nelma Hawkins were the parents of five children.
Hawkins received his bachelor"s degree from Brigham Young University (Brigham Young University) in political science. While he was at Northwestern he was editor-in-chief of the Illinois Law Review now known as the Northwestern University Law Review.
In 1973 Hawkins went to Brigham Young University as one of the founding members of the J. Reuben Clark Law School.