 In 1985, she returned to her alma mater to join the psychology department faculty, where she directed the University of Washington Child Clinical Psychology Program (1985–1991; 1999–2004).From 1996–2008, Dawson was Founding Director of the University of Washington Autism Center, which worked with Microsoft Corporation to set a precedent for companies to provide insurance coverage for autism early intervention.At the UW Autism Center, she was director of three NIH Autism Center of Excellence Awards, which provided funding for a multimillion-dollar multi-disciplinary autism research program focusing on genetics, neuroimaging, early diagnosis, and treatment.