Captain Robert J. Hawkins, PhD, DNP, MPH, MS, MBA, MA, CRNA, FAAN, assumed the role as the 27th Director of the Navy Nurse Corps on May 14, 2023. He succeeded Rear Adm. Cynthia Kuehner, who had served as director since June 2020. Hawkins is the first active-duty male nurse to serve in this role in the 115-year history of the Navy Nurse Corps. He is the second nurse anesthetist to serve as Director; the first, Winnie Gibson, served in the position from 1950 to 1954.
Hawkins has had a long career in the Navy, having served for the past 40 years. He served wartime deployments as a nurse anesthetist as part of Fleet Surgical Team Eight onboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1 ), the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), and the USS Bataan (LHD-5).
Prior to becoming Director of the Navy Nurse Corps, he was Director of the Commander’s Action Group at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 2021-2022, Commander of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) from 2019-2021, and the Deputy Commander of NMCPHC from 2017-2019. From 2015 to 2017, Hawkins was the Associate Director of Surgical Services at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
He’s also held education leadership positions, and from 2010 to 2014, he served as the Director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program in the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University.
He has won numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (five awards), Navy Achievement Medal (five awards), and the Navy Good Conduct Medal (two awards). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology congratulates Hawkins on his historic accomplishment.