Rick Hawkins (B.S. Accounting '69)

A little good fortune and a lot of hard work has made Rick Hawkins a familiar figure in the City
of Roses Accounting community. A lifelong Portlander and PSU graduate (B.S. Accounting ’69 ),
Hawkins has worked 52 years as a CPA at some of the city’s most successful accounting firms.
Along the way, Hawkins has made it a mission to share a lifetime of knowledge and prosperity
with PSU.
 
Originally headed to the University of Washington, it was the death of Hawkins’s father during
his final year at Benson High School in 1965 that kept Rick in Portland. His mother swiftly went
back to work as a registered nurse, and the Portland State campus became a home away from
home for Hawkins and his five siblings (who all eventually went on to attend PSU as well).
“Thank God Portland State was there for all of us after my father died,” he says. “We spent a lot
of time in the library, studying. I always had to keep my head down and be conscientious. I paid
for my own college. My mom had six kids – there’s no way she could have done it.”
 
The work paid off. Hawkins graduated with an Accounting degree and a job offer from Arthur
Young & Co. (which later became Ernst & Young in a 1989 merger), where he had spent his
junior and senior years learning the ropes. “I always felt so fortunate to walk out of Portland
State and get a job. I think about that all the time.”
 
After graduation Rick joined the firm full time, eventually becoming a partner and heading up
the tax practice. After 20 years Hawkins left Ernst & Young and joined former
powerhouse Arthur Anderson, his home for another decade. But in 2001 Hawkins was
approached by Stan Geffen of Geffen Mesher. The small, local firm reminded him of the
collegiality of his first experiences as a CPA. And so, just prior to the dissolution of Arthur
Anderson, Hawkins made his final move to Geffen Mesher, where he has remained for over 20
years.
 
Over his five decades of work, Hawkins has always kept PSU close. From 2002-2022 he was a
member of The School of Business’s Accounting Advisory Board and served as Chair for several
years. Hawkins is also a former President of the PSU Foundation Board, and was a board
member from 1990-2010, co-chairing annual fundraisers like Wine & Roses and the Simon
Benson Awards. During this time Hawkins also made it a point to personally donate to the
School of Business Accounting Program, and was an advocate for support from Geffen Mesher.
 
PSU Accounting Professor and Advisory Board Liaison Elizabeth Almer knows Hawkins as a
fierce fundraiser and cornerstone of the accounting community. “Rick is known to be someone
of the utmost integrity and professionalism.”
 
And as Rick puts it, the feeling is mutual. The accounting professors, “really care about their
students, have an interest in their students. I experienced that [as a student]. And I saw it when I
was on the Advisory Board with the Business School. I can’t say enough positive things
about them. That’s why I joined the Foundation, to give back.”

 
“He’s grateful and he pays it forward in a substantial way,” Almer says.
 
Outside of PSU, Hawkins has dedicated his time and energy to fundraising for organizations like
Loaves and Fishes, Japan-America Society of Oregon, Oregon Venture Fund, Travel Portland,
Trillium Family Services, MS Society of Portland, and Classic Wines Foundation.
 
Looking back, it’s evident that giving is a core part of who Rick Hawkins is. “That’s the greatest
piece,” Hawkins says. “I just feel fortunate. My family couldn’t have done it without Portland
State. That was our foundation.”