In 1971, Hawkes became an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Welfare at the University of Calgary, then in 1975 he received tenure.

In 1979, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the re-established riding of Calgary West, and was elected to the House of Commons.

[citation needed] Hawkes was re-elected in the 1988 election in which his chief opponent was his former protégé Harper, now running for the newly founded Reform Party of Canada.

In the 1993 federal election, Hawkes came third behind Harper (who won) and Liberal candidate Karen Gainer, becoming one of many PC MPs who were defeated at the polls.

Robert Hawkes reached Master level in chess by his late teens.