Kristy Michelle Hawkins (born August 28, 1980) is an American

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...

and

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

, and former professional

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

Early life and education

Kristy Hawkins was born and raised in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

, in 1980. In 1994, she started attending

Longview High School Longview High School (colloquially known as LHS) is a public high school located in the city of Longview, Texas, in Gregg County, United States and classified as a 6A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Longview Independent School Distric ...

. In 1998, she graduated from high school and started attending

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

that same year. She earned her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

from

in 2002, graduating ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' and with University and Foundation Honors. She earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in Chemical Engineering at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(Caltech) in 2005. She graduated from Caltech in 2008 with a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in chemical engineering.Kristy Hawkins Director of yeast engineering at Lygos
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Career in chemical/biological engineering

In 1999, Hawkins worked as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

for the

Eastman Chemical Company Eastman Chemical Company is an American company primarily involved in the chemical industry. Once a subsidiary of Kodak, today it is an independent global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of advanced materials, chemicals an ...

and from 2000 to 2002 she worked again as an intern for the Solutia Inc. From November 2008 to August 8, 2013, she moved to

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley, California, Berkeley and Oakland, California, Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisc ...

, where she got a job as scientist for

metabolic engineering Metabolic engineering is the practice of optimizing genetic and regulatory processes within cells to increase the cell's production of a certain substance. These processes are chemical networks that use a series of biochemical reactions and enzy ...

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...

at Amyris Inc. Starting August 19, 2013, she worked as director of yeast engineering for the company Lygos. She has since left Lygos and co-founded a chemical engineering company called Antheia.

Bodybuilding

Amateur

Hawkins has described herself as having been very heavy in elementary school. She took dance lessons and became a twirler, but says that she wasn't active enough and didn't have proper eating habits. She suffered from

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

, which led her to starve herself. She eventually got into the gym to burn calories. At first she started with cardio and then weight training. At the age of 15 years, she got her own gym membership and went every day after school and work. The owners were hosting a competition and taught her the basics of training, nutrition, and posing. At the age of 17, she traveled with some people from her gym to Mississippi for an ANPPC show and placed 3rd in the novice women’s short class. She twice placed in the top four at the NPC Nationals. In November 2007, she won the light-heavyweight and overall at the NPC Nationals and received her IFBB pro card.

Professional

After turning professional, she attended her first professional competition, the 2008

Ms. International The Ms. International female bodybuilding contest was considered to be the second-most prestigious competition for female bodybuilding, female bodybuilders (second only to the Ms. Olympia competition), from its inception in 1986 through to its fi ...

, where she placed 14th. In 2009, she attended her first Ms. Olympia, which she placed 7th. When training and competing specifically for bodybuilding, she consumed 2,500–3,000 calories a day and her contest weight was around 140 pounds and roughly 165 pounds when off season. Hawkins says that she didn't really track her body-fat numbers, but mostly just went by how she looked.

Contest history

*1998 ANPPC Mississippi Open - 3rd (Novice Women Short Class) *1998 AAU Mr/Mrs Southwest America - 1st (Novice Women Medium Class) and Best Poser *1999 AAU Mr/Mrs Southwest America - 1st (Open Women Short Class) and Best Poser *2000 ANPPC Southwest USA Natural Bodybuilding Championships - 3rd (Novice Women Short Class) *2002 NPC Michigan Championships - 1st (LW) *2002 NPC Pittsburgh Open - 3rd (LW) *2003 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic - 1st (MW) *2003 NPC Pittsburgh Open -1st (MW & overall) *2003 NPC Lone Star Classic - 1st (HW & overall) *2003 NPC Jr. Nationals - 4th (MW) *2004 NPC Jr. Nationals - 5th (LHW) *2004 IFBB North Americans - 4th (LHW) *2005 NPC Nationals - 4th (LHW) *2006 NPC Nationals - 3rd (LHW) *2007 NPC Nationals - 1st (LHW & overall) *2008 IFBB

- 14th *2009 IFBB Atlantic City Pro - 2nd *2009 IFBB

Ms. Olympia The IFBB Professional League Ms. Olympia (initially named the Miss Olympia) is professional bodybuilding's most prestigious competition and the title of the winner of the competition in female bodybuilding. It was first held in 1980. It was hel ...

- 7th *2010 IFBB New York Pro - 10thKristy Hawkins
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Powerlifting

In 2011, Hawkins stepped away from professional bodybuilding and has successfully stepped into the realm of powerlifting, while maintaining a "bodybuilder" type look to her physique. She has stated that when she was just starting this sport she managed to squat 400 pounds.

World records

Competition history

Personal life

Hawkins is an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

. She was for a time in a serious relationship with bodybuilder Branden Ray, but is now single. She currently lives in

.Article: What's it like being a female bodybuilder? By Gene X Hwang
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Kristy 1980 births American agnostics American female bodybuilders American women scientists California Institute of Technology alumni Living people People from Longview, Texas Texas A&M University alumni People from Emeryville, California Sportspeople from Texas Sportspeople from California 21st-century American women