Dr. Earle Taylor Hawkins was born in Churchville, Maryland in 1903. He graduated summa cum laude from Western Maryland College in 1923. He then went on to earn his master's degree in education at Columbia University and his doctorate from Yale University in 1942. From 1929 until 1938, Hawkins was Principal at Bel Air High School in Bel Air, Maryland. In 1938, he was appointed to a new Maryland state superintendence position, the Supervisor of High Schools. He retained this position until 1947, when he was appointed the President of the State Teacher's College at Towson. He took on this role right at a time when the school itself was poised to undergo massive growth in student enrollment, educational programs, and campus facilities, due in no small part to the population growth the entire country experienced after World War II. In 1947, the school was still a teachers’ college and had been awarding baccalaureate degrees for only 12 years. Hawkins would oversee the school’s transformation into a liberal arts college in 1963, changing the name of the school to Towson State College. The changes in the school were more than name only. In 1969, Towson offered baccalaureate degrees in five fields -- arts and sciences, teacher education, business administration, medical technology, and international studies -- and a Masters of Education degree with programs in elementary and secondary education, and guidance counseling. The school population had grown from 600 students in 1947 to over 8,000, and to keep up the demand, the buildings on campus had tripled in number from 7 to 21. It was at this time that Towson became the second largest public institution of higher learning in the state of Maryland, a distinction it has retained ever since. Hawkins was a man well-suited to oversee all this growth and change. His interests, both personal and professional, were varied, and his energy seemed limitless. Throughout his life, Hawkins held several positions including President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Vice President of the National Education Association, president of the Maryland Association of Higher Education, and president of the Maryland State Teachers Association. Additionally, Hawkins served as a board member to several organizations and was a member of the Johns Hopkins Club, the Maryland Academy of Sciences, and the Maryland Historical Society. Hawkins' also served on teams which surveyed the educational systems of Pakistan and the Philippines, and he was awarded honorary doctorates from Western Maryland College and Notre Dame College. Even with all these responsibilities Hawkins found time to travel. He visited every state in the union as well as countries in Asia, Western Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. When Hawkins left the presidential home (now the Counseling Center) at his retirement, he and his wife, Juanita, had to auction off around 600 items they had collected from their travels so all their belongings might fit into a smaller apartment. Along with his love of travel, Hawkins loved railroads and puzzles. He owned approximately 200 puzzles which required knowledge of mathematics or physics to solve. And he was also an accomplished musician organist, playing with his church, and leading the Towson Men’s Glee club for a number of years, including some events broadcast on the radio. Hawkins died unexpectedly on June 3, 1972, while attending a theatrical performance in Pennsylvania.