NFF Gold Medal Recipients
Biography
After overcoming polio at age eleven, Pete Dawkins showcased a natural gift for conquering life's challenges, and few can match the unparalleled athletic, educational, military and business successes of this bona fide American icon.
A Royal Oak, Mich., native, Dawkins showed his athleticism at an early age, earning a scholarship to Cranbrook Kingswood School. He was named an all-league quarterback and captain of the baseball team.
Following his high school graduation, Dawkins chose the United States Military Academy over Yale. He is the only cadet in West Point history to serve as Brigade Commander, class president, captain of the football team and a "star man" in the top five percent of his class academically. In 1958, his achievements reached new heights, as he was named the Heisman Trophy winner and Maxwell Award recipient under legendary coach Earl "Red" Blaik.
A stellar student, Dawkins was also named a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Oxford following his graduation from the USMA in 1959. He received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and later earned a Ph.D. from Princeton. Dawkins then attended Infantry School and Ranger School before being posted to duty in Vietnam. He received two Bronze Stars for Valor and was later chosen to work on a task force designed to change the army into an all-volunteer organization.
After 24 years in the service, the 1975 College Football Hall of Fame inductee retired as a Brigadier General. He then joined Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street firm, and later became vice chairman of Bain and Company. He was named chairman and CEO of Primerica Financial Services, Inc. in 1991. A former Republican candidate for the Senate, Dawkins now serves as vice chairman of Citigroup Private Bank and resides in Rumson, N.J.
