Educator and linguist Lawrence Earl Hinkle was born in Marshfield, Missouri, on January 27, 1889. At age 22, he earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Colorado. He entered into the service of North Carolina State College on January 1, 1915. During his tenure at the college, Hinkle earned a Masters of Art degree from Columbia University in 1919 and a Docteur es Sciences du Langage from Dijon University (France) in 1929. Likewise, Hinkle studied at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Princeton University, and Duke University. Prior to his appointment at North Carolina State College, Dr. Hinkle served as the President of Cokesbury Conference College and as a Professor of German at Northwestern State Teachers' College.

Hinkle served as Assistant Professor to Professor of Modern Languages at North Carolina State College from 1915 until his retirement in 1955 and as Head of the Department of Modern Languages beginning in 1922. While at N.C. State, Dr. Hinkle was actively involved in the academic structure of the institution. He established the Translation Service, founded Sigma Pi Alpha, a national honorary language fraternity, and revised the registration and final examination system.

While at N.C. State, Hinkle wrote and lectured on many topics. These topics include the following titles,      and He was also a contributor to the United States Department of Agriculture Library, American Documentation Institute, and . His many honors include being President of American Association of Teachers of Spanish, President of North Carolina Teachers of German, President of North Carolina Modern Language Association, President of German Section, South Atlantic Modern Lanugage Assocaiation, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Pi Alpha, , and . On July 1, 1955 Dr. Hinkle retired and became Dean Emeritus. He died on October 2, 1964, in New York City.