President's Bio

General Hankins was hired as the president of AAICU in February 2005.

after serving as a municipal consultant to the Mayor of the city of Montgomery, Alabama and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, he served over 29 years in the United States Air Force before entering the private sector from his position as the Commander of the Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools. In that position, General Hankins served as the university president for three separate educational arms of the US Air Force -- Air Force ROTC (18,000 students at 144 college and university locations), Air Force Junior ROTC (113,000 students in 744 high schools internationally) and a post-graduate officers training program (3,500 students in resident on-campus programs). He provided executive level leadership for 3,000 faculty and staff personnel responsible for recruitment, curriculum, and operations with a $185 million budget (excluding salaries) that included a $60 million college scholarship program; a $55 million high school citizenship program; and a $3 million recruiting budget. During his career in the Air Force, Gen Hankins accumulated 25+ years of experience in various human resource management and leadership positions including over seven years working as a direct liaison for the Department of Defense and the Air Force with the United States Congress.

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, General Hankins holds a BS degree from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado and a MS degree from Troy University in Alabama. He completed a year long national fellowship with the Broad Foundation’s Urban School Superintendents Academy in 2004 and is a graduate from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business Senior Executive Program. 

Paul currently serves as: a Commissioner on the Montgomery Housing Authority’s Board of Directors, is a member of the National Board of Directors for the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE), the Board of Directors for the Coalition for College Cost Savings, Chairman, Board of Directors for the Montgomery Education Foundation, the Board of Directors for the Central Alabama Sports Commission, the Board of Directors for the Metro Area YMCA, the Executive Board for the Tukabatchee Area Boy Scouts, Vice Chairman for the Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) Board of Directors and as Chairman, Alabama Military Stability Foundation. He is married to Donna Hankins and they have two children, Priscilla Hankins Wunderl and Clark Hankins.