Dr. Dawson received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Washington State University in 1987. His dissertation involved computational fluid dynamics applied to modeling air pollution in complex terrain. This project enhanced his background in meteorology. He had previous training in the atmospheric sciences at the University of Wyoming and had taught meteorology as an assistant professor at Montana State University in the early 1980s. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Previous work experience included working as a civilian engineer for the Navy in the Washington, D.C., area and teaching junior college and high school science subjects in the Boston area.