William Hawkes

William "Bill" J. Hawkes, 81, died October 11, 2016 in Verona, Wisconsin following a long illness. He is survived by the love of his life, his wife Dorothy Hawkes; his sister, Joann Langston; and his five nieces and one nephew.

Mr. Hawkes was born on January 9, 1935 in New York City to William and Lillian Hawkes. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and did graduate work in statistics at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Hawkes was a gifted statistician who served as Vice President and Chief Statistical Officer of ACNielsen (now the Nielsen Corporation), the world's largest market research organization. Mr. Hawkes was responsible for the work of a staff of several hundred professional statisticians in the design of Nielsen Marketing and Media research services and the statistical analysis of Nielsen data. He and his staff developed key marketing models and expert systems applications. He played a significant role in the establishment of global Nielsen services, working in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.

In addition to his work with Nielsen, Mr. Hawkes served the nation by playing a key role on numerous advisory committees to federal statistical agencies. He frequently testified before Congress on issues related to economic statistics. He chaired the Business Research Advisory Council to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Marketing Association's Census Advisory Committee. He published many research articles for marketing and statistical journals, and he wrote a chapter in Scanner Data and Price Indexes (University of Chicago Press, 2003.) After retiring from Nielsen, Mr. Hawkes continued to consult on economic statistics for private companies.

Mr. Hawkes was passionate about music and literature, and after retirement he fulfilled his twin dreams of learning to play the harpsichord and write fiction. He was the author of the novel, Bad Choices (2015) which was set in post-unification Germany. Mr. Hawkes' years spent working in Europe gave his writing great insights into the world of international business and German culture after unification.

Mr. Hawkes was a devoted advocate for peace, and for over a decade, he was an active member of the Madison Area Peace Coalition. He was equally passionate about the wilderness. With his wife Dorothy, he backpacked throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and especially New Zealand, where he returned for 15 treks.

Memorial donations may be made to the Multiple Systems Atrophy Research Fund.

A memorial celebration of his life will take place at his home on November 26, 2016 from 3-6.


Cress Center
6021 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53705
608-238-8406