Dr. Bob Hawkes, Mount Allison’s second 3M teaching-award winner has, as Physics Department Head and much-loved physics professor, made every effort to foster the teaching of science. He is particularly active in exploring ways of introducing audio-visual materials into his courses and a personalized instruction approach that allows students to set their own pace for learning. Hawkes explains, "We have converted many of our courses to an experiential style of instruction in which the lecture component is reduced and students work through hands-on activities to learn the key concepts."

Dr. Hawkes is widely considered the world expert in the application of video technology to meteor observations. Dr. Hawkes played a key role in the 1998 and 1999 international missions to observe the Leonid meteor showers. From posts in Mongolia and Israel, Dr. Hawkes and a team of researchers (many of whom were recent Mount Allison graduates) provided real-time data to satellite operators, so they could respond appropriately to the potential threat of the meteors.

Dr. Hawkes has successfully integrated his teaching and research interests, and many Mount Allison students have had the opportunity to play key roles in his research program.

Dr. Hawkes has been recognized for his pursuit in teaching and learning on campus, not only as a 3-M winner, but also as the 1987-88 winner of the Tucker prize. Additionally, Hawkes was awarded a prestigious national honour — the 2000 Canadian Association of Physicists’ (CAP) Medal for Excellence in Teaching Physics. Dr. Hawkes was chosen for the award for his "superb, innovative teaching, both inside and outside of the classroom, his development of multimedia teaching materials, and his many presentations on teaching and curriculum development."