David Hawkins

About David's Work

David Hawkins was a philosopher with a background in the classics and a long avocation in the fields of mathematics and the sciences.

Hawkins contributed to the effort to bring new direction and fresh support to public education since the early 1960s.  In collaboration with his wife, Frances Pockman Hawkins, a leader in early childhood education, Hawkins aimed to define and demonstrate the kinds of in-service support teachers need for their professional growth.  In 1970, they founded the University of Colorado-based Mountain View Center for Environmental Education, which provided advanced education for elementary and pre-school teachers.  Among these efforts, the most challenging is to extend and deepen educational theory to match the insights that grow only from exemplary practice.

Biography

Hawkins was the Philip A. Danielson Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  His books include Manhattan District History, Project Y, The Los Alamos Project (1961; 1982), The Language of Nature: An Essay in the Philosophy of Science (1964), The Informed Vision: Essays in Learning and Human Nature (1974), The Science and Ethics of Equality (1977), and, as co-author, Science Education: A Minds-On Approach for the Elementary Years (1990). 

Hawkins received an A.B. (1934) and an M.A. (1936) from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. (1940) from the University of California, Berkeley.  

Last updated January 1, 2005.