Kathleen Hawk Sawyer

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer was inducted into the College of Applied Human Sciences Hall of Fame in the fall of 2025. She was previously inducted into the College of Education and Human Services Hall of Fame in 2005.

Sawyer earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wheeling Jesuit College and completed both her master’s (1973) and doctoral (1978) degrees in counseling and rehabilitation at West Virginia University.

Her career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) began in 1976 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Morgantown, W.Va., where she served as a psychologist and later Chief of Psychology Services. Over the next decade, she held leadership roles at facilities across the country, including warden at FCI Butner and Assistant Director of the BOP’s Program Review Division. In this latter role, she was responsible for internal controls across the agency.

In 1992, Sawyer became the first woman appointed as Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a position she held until 2003. She was reappointed to the role in 2019, serving during a pivotal period for the agency. As Director, Sawyer implemented forward-looking reforms, including education and employment initiatives for incarcerated individuals, and system-wide cost efficiencies through reengineering efforts.

Her leadership earned her multiple national honors, including the Presidential Distinguished Executive Award (1997), two Presidential Rank Awards for Meritorious Service (1994, 2000), the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Management (1992), and the Edmund Randolph Award for outstanding service in the Department of Justice (2001). She also received the Surgeon General’s Medallion and was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1995.