He was born on January 10, 1938 to Thomas & Amelie Hawkins in Flushing, N.Y. He received a Ph.D. in the History of Mathematics at The University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968, and served as a Professor at Boston University from 1972-2009.
In 1997, Thomas was awarded the Chauvenet Prize for his book "The Birth of Lie's Theory of Groups", and in 2001, received the Albert Leon Whiteman Prize, for which he was recognized as "an outstanding historian of mathematics whose current research and numerous publications display the highest standards of mathematical and historical sophistication".
His true passion was mountain biking, which he continued to do until a few months before his death.
Thomas is survived by his wife Diane Meuser, his children Allison Ball and Timothy Hawkins, his brother Peter Hawkins and two grandchildren Molly and Ryan Hawkins.
In lieu of flowers, please consider offering a donation to the following charities in honor of Tom.
Doctors Without Borders https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org/
Community Food Bank of Arizona https://www.communityfoodbank.org/
Arizona Public Media https://www.azpm.org/
