Willis Hawkins

Willis Moore Hawkins, who lived from 1913 to 2004, was an American aeronautical engineer who worked for Lockheed for more than fifty years. Hired in 1937 straight after earning his aeronautical engineering degree at the University of Michigan, he contributed to the designs of historic Lockheed aircraft including the Constellation, P-80 Shooting Star, XF-90, F-94 Starfire and F-104 Starfighter, and in 1951 led the design team that produced the proposal for the Lockheed Model 82, which became the C-130 Hercules. He started the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company and served as its president, was elected a vice president of the Lockheed Corporation in 1960, served as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Development from 1962 to 1965, and retired for good in 1986.