 He notably was the scientific director of the American Expedition on Mount Everest in 1998, one of the first major scientific expeditions on Everest.Hawley's work has been featured in major media such as "National Geographic", "Time", "The New York Times", and on numerous television networks.His work at MIT has, in his own words, “sought to creatively stretch digital infrastructures, embedding intelligence into all sorts of artifacts and advancing the web of communications.”

Hawley was born in November 1961 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and grew up in New Providence, New Jersey.