Walter Lincoln Hawkins

Walter Lincoln Hawkins (March 21, 1911 – August 20, 1992) was an American chemist and engineer widely regarded as a pioneer of polymer chemistry. For thirty-four years he worked at Bell Laboratories, where he was instrumental in designing a long-lasting plastic to sheath telephone cables, enabling the introduction of telephone services to thousands of Americans, especially those in rural communities. In addition to his pioneering research, Hawkins is also known for his advocacy efforts for minority students. He also served as the chairman of Montclair State University in 1973. Amongst his many awards, Hawkins was the first African-American to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and, shortly before his death in 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by then-U.S. president, George H. W. Bush.

Early years W. Lincoln Hawkins was born on March 21, 1911, in Washington, D.C. His father was a lawyer for the U.S. Census Bureau and his mother was a science teacher in the District of Columbia school system. Hawkins also had a brother, David Brown, He was the grandson of a slave and obtained his secondary school education in the segregated school system of the Jim Crow Era.

When he was young, Hawkins was very interested in how things worked. For example, it was not unusual for him to take apart a single toy and reassemble it to make another one. He also made spring-driven toy boats to sail in the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Hawkins and a fellow eleven-year-old once tried to build a perpetual motion machine, not realizing that it was an impossible task. He built a working radio so he could listen to Washington Senators baseball games.

While at Washington's Dunbar High School, Hawkins noticed that his physics teacher drove an expensive new car every year. The teacher, Dr. James Cowen, In 1932 he graduated with B.S., in chemical engineering. Unable to find a job during the Great Depression, he enrolled in graduate school at Howard University where, in 1934, he earned a master's degree in chemistry. Professor Howard Blatt, Hawkins' friend and mentor at Howard, informed him of a special scholarship at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Hawkins enrolled at McGill, earned his Doctorate in Chemistry in 1938, with a focus in cellulose (lignin) chemistry. He stayed at McGill to teach for several more years. In 1963, he became Bell Labs' Supervisor of Applied Research, and in 1972, the head of his department. Posthumously, Hawkins was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010.

For his research contributions, he received honorary doctorates from Montclair State College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Kean State College, and Howard University.