Peter M. Dawkins

Born in 1938 in Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Pete Dawkins was the second of four children. His father was a dentist, and his mother worked as a sales clerk in a Detroit department store. With the start of World War II, his father was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the South Pacific for nearly four years.

When Dawkins was four, his grandfather died, leaving his grandmother alone on their Michigan farm. From that point on, Dawkins spent his summers living on the farm and helping his grandmother, who taught him many important values, including accountability and self-reliance. Even though he worked from sunrise to sunset all summer, Dawkins loved his time with his grandmother. As he grew older, she gave him five acres of his own to cultivate. He hand-plowed the land and grew cucumbers, which he then sold to the local pickle cannery.

When Dawkins was 11, he contracted polio, which left him with a severe curvature of his spine. He started a rigorous two-hour, daily routine of physical therapy and, after several years, greatly reduced the curvature.

In junior high school, Dawkins received a scholarship to Cranbrook, a private prep school in nearby Bloomfield Hills. The curriculum was demanding, and he worked hard to catch up with his peers. When he entered high school, he began playing football and ended his senior year as an all-league quarterback. He was also captain of the baseball team.

Although he had been accepted on scholarship at Yale University, Dawkins chose to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His years there were the most formative of his life, and he made the most of his opportunities. He was in the top 5 percent of his class, and served as class president and brigade commander. At West Point, Dawkins was captain and running back of the football team. He was named a consensus All-American, and in 1958, he won the Heisman Trophy as an outstanding college football player.

Following his college graduation in 1959, Dawkins became a Rhodes scholar and attended Oxford University. Three years later, Dawkins began his military career, serving for 24 years before retiring in 1983 with the rank of brigadier general. Since then, he has had a distinguished civilian career in financial services.

Dawkins spent four years as a partner in the Wall Street firm of Lehman Brothers. Later, he joined Bain & Company as managing director and head of its domestic consulting business. In 1991, he became chairman and CEO of Primerica Financial Services, Inc. In subsequent years, Dawkins held several senior positions in Citigroup, including that of vice chairman of Citigroup Global Wealth Management.

Looking back over his many successes, Dawkins believes the focus should be more on the process of achievement than on the consequences of success. "Americans are achievement-driven," he says. "That's why the American dream is so potent. To me, the American dream means leaving a place better than it was when you came in."

Education has always been a passion for Dawkins, who in his free time earned a doctorate from Princeton. Honored to receive the Horatio Alger Award, he says, "The work of the Association in identifying deserving young people and giving them the chance for a bright future is critically important. Getting a sound education is an indispensable ingredient in creating the opportunity they need to compete and contribute in today's challenging and competitive world."