The best teachers foster learning far beyond the pages of any textbook. They find ways to light sparks and guide people and programs into greatness. Just ask anyone who learned a thing or two from David “Dave” Hawkins.

“You cannot repay the people that mentor you, but you can mentor other people and pass knowledge along that way,” says Dave of Mason, Mich., and professor emeritus at Michigan State University. “If we can help our students have an easier path and succeed in their careers, that’s what it’s really all about, because people really are the most important thing we have.”

Before his retirement, students and colleagues found evidence of his people-centered philosophy when they planted themselves in the chairs in his office and talked with him as a mentee or a friend.

“Those chairs, most of the time during working hours, were always filled with somebody seeking his counsel,” says Jennifer Hawkins, the younger of his two daughters.

Much the same, this translates into Dave’s family life, too. 

“All the same love and support that he gave us girls growing up he’s extended to the next generation,” says his oldest daughter, Lisa Moser.

The sisters have many fond memories with their dad, raising cattle and attending state and National Junior Angus Shows (NJAS) together. They saw him in his element, and he says he was happy to share it with them.

“Walking through the aisles with Dad has always been fun because of all the people that want to engage with him along the way,” Lisa says. 

Mark McCully, American Angus Association CEO, had an office as a graduate student at Michigan State a few doors down from Dave. McCully says Dave takes pride in the success of others.

“His fingerprints are all over this industry,” he says. “One of Dave’s greatest legacies is his impact on and mentorship of leaders and folks that have been able to go out and also have an impact."

How legends are made

Teaching, coaching livestock judging teams and working with colleagues to raise award-winning purebred beef cattle — Dave did it all with excellence during his career. 

“All over the country, he was advising new breeders, advising experienced breeders, and really helping the communication networks across the country and internationally,” says Dan Moser, Dave’s son-in-law.

Dan says Dave is wired to study cattle, the science of them and everything else that goes with a herd.

“When you rode through a pasture of the Michigan State cattle or the cattle in Ohio that come from the Hawkins’ farm, he could give you the pedigrees, seven generations, eight generations, as far back as the records go,” Dan explains. 

A humble, trusted leader

Dave looks back on that golden era for animal science at Michigan State and says the best part was they could work together with a common goal and not worry about who was going to get credit for their success.

“The graduate students, the farm managers, all had a part in what was occurring with the program and took great pride in it,” he says. “The fact that many of us were asked to judge shows several times over a 20-30 year period meant that there was some longevity to the program and that people did appreciate our opinions.”

Highly sought after, Dave judged major shows across the United States, Canada, Australia and Denmark during his career. 

His first international experience was visiting Australia in 1982, and he collaborated with its Angus society to develop an exchange program that lasted 26 years, creating a rich network of international breeders and exchange of ideas.

As a representative of Michigan State, he also spent time leading student study tours to the British Isles and was invited to São Paulo, Brazil, to give lectures on North American beef production.

“These international opportunities allowed me a chance to meet new people and to broaden my horizons,” Dave says. “I tried to bring new information back into the classroom.”

McCully says he remembers Dave’s teachings always being current, prepared with care to help set up as many students as he could for success.

“Dave was always one that wanted students to expand their horizons, to think big, to understand the world in maybe a little bigger way than the perspective they came from,” McCully says. “When he taught, it was 100% about the students, and it was 100% about them getting the knowledge that they needed.”

A standout class for many students, including McCully and Lisa, was a livestock merchandising class. Students would hear from auctioneers, sale managers and successful breeders, while also gaining hands-on experience pulling together a sale at the university.

“It was one of my favorite classes that I took because he had speakers that would just volunteer their time to come in — industry leaders from all over the country,” Lisa says. “They wanted to help by talking with the students, but they really came because he asked.”

With meat animal evaluation courses and livestock judging teams, Dave says he found students to be highly motivated, and he enjoyed seeing them develop their decision-making, communication and time management skills. He coached and traveled with teams for seven years before stepping into a faculty mentor role for coaches for 20 years and later as superintendent of the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Contest.

At the university, he did all this working alongside other legends in the making: Nelson, Ritchie and Byron Good. This beef group had a hand in updating the university program’s Angus genetics, beginning in the late ’60s until Dave retired in 2006. Several of Dave’s former colleagues’ portraits hang alongside his painting in the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery, where Dave was inducted in 2013.

“I can’t help but think they made each other better,” McCully says. “To be able to take a class from the classroom out to the barn and see national champions, that was special. I think Dave’s passion for quality livestock — really all of those gentlemen’s passion for quality livestock — really set Michigan State apart in that time.”

Since retirement, Dave has continued to pour into others and watch his former students and even grandkids grow in their confidence and find success in their chosen career fields. He calls that a great reward for his labor.

Decades of teaching also honed his skills for helping students learn how to think through problems. Lisa says he is still the first person she goes to for advice.

“He’s such a good sounding board for me, his daughter,” she says. “But he would be that for anybody — any student, any young person that comes to him. He would do that for them because that’s just who he is.”