Troy University Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr. has announced his retirement, effective Oct. 1, 2025. He has led the university for more than 35 years and is currently the longest-serving chief executive of a public university in Alabama.
“The last three and a half decades have been among the most important in my lifetime and in the life my wife, Janice, and I have shared as a team,” said Hawkins. “We are proud of the work we have done, from re-classification of the university to doctoral degree status to the transformation of a regional institution into ‘Alabama’s International University’ and the elevation of our athletics program to the highest level of college athletics. It has been a remarkable experience.”
Following his retirement, Hawkins will serve as chancellor emeritus.
A native of Mobile, Hawkins was named chancellor of the Troy State University System on Sept. 1, 1989. 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. He also has served as a catalyst for the university’s evolution to an international institution, establishing teaching sites in other states and around the world. The university currently has four campuses in Alabama — Dothan, Montgomery, Phenix City and Troy — and support centers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
During his tenure, academic standards for admission have increased, new degree programs were added in all academic colleges and intercollegiate athletics joined the highest level of NCAA competition. The Alabama Commission on Higher Education approved Troy University to offer additional doctoral degrees, a move that paves the way for the university to become more of a research institution.
“I have been proud to know and work with Chancellor Hawkins for more than 30 years and to simply say he has been an effective leader for Troy would be an understatement. His work has helped transform the Troy State University System into the renowned, global, doctoral institution we all know today as Troy University,” said Gov. Kay Ivey. “From the classroom to the field, Troy has accomplished a great deal under the leadership of Chancellor Hawkins, and he leaves a legacy that will last for generations of students to come.”
