David C. Hawley ’55

Dave died peacefully Dec. 20, 2020, at home. 

Born in Evanston, Ill., Dave graduated from the Choate School before attending Princeton, where he majored in history. He joined Quadrangle Club, was the business manager of Triangle Club, and was active in the Senior Glee Club, the Undergraduate Council Staff Executive Committee, and the Orange Key Advisee Project. His senior-year roommates were Pete Bott and Tom Smith. 

Dave served as an officer in the Navy from 1955 to 1958. He then attended Northwestern University, where he earned an MBA in 1959.

Dave joined the Inland Steel Co., rising to serve as director of public affairs until his retirement in 1995. He was as an adviser to the U.S. secretary of commerce and U.S. trade representative on international trade policy for 30 of those years.

Dave was a board member of the Laidlaw Corp., a volunteer in the Executive Service Corps, treasurer of the Boy Scouts of America Troop 20, and a member of the University Club in Chicago.

The family enjoyed their century-old home that featured a former barn that had once housed the area’s horse-drawn fire engine. They liked to travel and treasured time at the family Michigan lake house Crystal Cove, where Dave’s grandparents had established a vacation cottage in 1933.

Dave is survived by his wife of 64 years, Dorothy; their three children; and six grandchildren.