Recently appointed School of Family Life Director Dr. Allen Hawkins will miss teaching and researching, but he is excited for the opportunity to serve and bless the lives of SFL students and faculty.

“For 30 years I’ve been focused on my own research and career, so I’m looking forward to helping others more than focusing on myself.”

A personal focus on the family

While Hawkins began his career studying organizational behavior, he soon found a love for the field of family life.

“At first, I was drawn to the study of children and fathers and the importance of fathers in children’s lives and the importance of children in fathers’ and men’s lives. That’s what drew me in. But the number of questions, problems and issues in this field are so big, so many, so important, and so dynamic, it wasn’t hard to get me hooked really fast.”

Since then, Hawkins has studied many aspects of families and the relationships and marriages that form them. His dedication and focus on the family is marked by his extensive research and service activity (he currently serves as the co-chair of the Utah Marriage Council).

A set vision

The appointment to school director comes with a lot of changes. As Hawkins takes on a more administrative role in the school, he’ll have the opportunity to focus more specifically on the school’s faculty and students.

“I feel a pretty keen responsibility,” shares Hawkins. “I think the School of Family Life plays such an important role in students’ lives, and I think we can be a unique contributor to BYU and its mission, as well as the church’s mission.”

Moving forward, Hawkins is grateful for the decisions and set vision that Dean Barley established during his time as director.

“I’m deeply appreciative that he was able to tackle and resolve difficult issues. And now we’re just moving forward. I think we’re going to maintain a lot of the good direction that Dean has set,” says Hawkins. “I’m also looking forward to others’ input on how we can keep moving forward and improving to meet the changing dynamics of (faculty and students) and public scholarship.”

As for Hawkins’ larger vision for the school, he shares that “the vision is already set—to bless students’ lives so that they can be a light on the hill in terms of their own family lives and so that they can…help to strengthen families wherever they go. That vision continues, but we’ve also got new challenges and new students to be aware of.”

“We do really good work here, and we’re doing work in an area where the need for quality research and scholarship is so needed yet is receiving much less attention. Particularly around marriage, I think we make a really great contribution to the field and to society as well.”

Good luck, Dr. Hawkins as you embark on the next journey in your career and service at BYU!