He was appointed Director of Fuels and Energy at the State Department to United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in the Fall of 1973 until August 1975.
He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Abbott Akins; his son, Thomas Akins; his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Akins Colvill; three grandchildren; brothers, Kenneth Akins, and Donovan Akins.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1954 and was assigned in Italy, France, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Baghdad, Iraq before being appointed to the State Department's top energy post in 1968.
He earned his Bachelor's Degree in 1947 from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio after he left to serve the United States Navy for two years during World War II.