Year Honored: 2009

Biography

Sally V. Hawkins was born in Michigan and began her career as a flight attendant. In the early 1970s she married her second husband, Ewing B. Hawkins, who owned and operated the Delaware Broadcasting Company. Hawkins was hired as CEO and General Manager of WILM Radio, and under her leadership in 1976 moved to a “news-talk format with the station having the largest radio reporting team in the region. The station and staff were the recipients of numerous national and regional news awards.” To this day, WILM is one of only two independently owned all-news radio stations.

Hawkins was also an active member in the community, serving on the Board of the Delaware Community Foundation, and a founding member of the Delaware Fund for Women. She was an “advocate for women to ensure they were treated fairly,” and in recognition of that work, Wilmington University established the ‘Sally V. Hawkins Advancement for Women Scholarship.’
_____________________________________________________________________________

Sources and Additional Readings

Delaware Business Now. (2017, May 22). Services scheduled for Thursday for WILM owner Sally Hawkins. Delaware Business Now. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2017/05/services-scheduled-thursday-wilm-owner-sally-hawkins/

Fund for women spring news. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Fund-for-Women-Spring-News.html?soid=1110789388537&aid=igPmyZzv95E

Talk Radio Stations. Talk Stations. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from http://phillytalk.com/talk-radio/talk-stations