John H. Hawes ’63

John died April 3, 2026. He was a foreign service officer with worldwide postings and senior roles in the U.S. State Department.

John came to Princeton from Glen Rock (N.J.) High School, where he graduated with highest honors and a National Merit Scholarship. He was managing editor of The Daily Princetonian and pursued international interests that would shape his life’s work. His degree was in public and international affairs; he wrote his thesis on “Problems of Economic Development Planning in Ghana and the Ivory Coast”; and he received the DeWitt Clinton Poole Memorial Scholarship to support research in West Africa. He graduated magna cum laude.

John’s three decades in the foreign service included postings in Naples, Addis Ababa, Calcutta, New Delhi, Brussels (NATO), Vienna, Rabat, and Washington, D.C. His roles included deputy assistant secretary of state for politico-military affairs, head of the U.S. delegation to U.S.-Soviet talks on chemical weapons nonproliferation, and leading the negotiations for the Open Skies Treaty to advance international cooperation on arms control during the George H.W. Bush administration.

Following retirement, John earned a master’s of science degree in secondary education from George Mason University in 2001 and taught the international baccalaureate theory of knowledge and geography at Annandale (Va.) High School from 2000 to 2013.

John was named Teacher of the Year in 2010.

John is survived by former wives Marisa Lambiase Hawes and Wendy Jean Chamberlin; daughters Fabrizia Hawes, Alessia Hawes Kirkland, Christiana Hawes, Chynna Hawes, and Jade Hawes; and nine grandchildren.