Talladega College President Billy Hawkins to Retire Next Summer

Billy C. Hawkins, president of historically Black Talladega College in Alabama, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

When Dr. Hawkins took the helm at Talladega in 2008, the institution was struggling to survive and had under 300 students. The latest enrollments numbers available from the U.S. Department of Education show more than 1,200 students. He restored intercollegiate athletics at the college and secured funds to refurbish and house the famed Amistad Murals, which have an estimated value of $50 million. (See JBHE post.)

A native of Kent, Ohio, Dr. Hawkins became president of Talladega College on January 1, 2008. From 2000 to 2007, he was president of Texas College in Tyler, Texas. In 2016, Dr. Hawkins became the first African American to chair the board of directors of the Alabama Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Hawkins is a graduate of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. He holds a master’s degree in education from Central Michigan University and a Ph.D. in educational administration from Michigan State University.