Gerald Dawes

Polytechnic Alumni Association - Immediate Past President (Term ending August 31, 2022)

Mr. Gerald Dawes is currently a Director in the Business Ethics and Compliance Department (BEC) at Con Edison Company of New York. In this position, he is responsible for promoting ethics standards and guiding compliance with applicable laws. Previously, he served as a Director in Con Edison’s Construction department, where he managed all aspects of the company’s relationship with the New York City and New York State Department of Transportation – NYCDOT and NYSDOT respectively, and he also managed the Construction Contracts Administration, Computer Applications, and Technical Review departments.

Mr. Dawes has also held the position of Con Edison Executive on-loan with the American Gas Association (AGA), where he worked with the Operations and Engineering staff of the AGA on a wide range of federal and regional natural gas related initiatives. He also held various positions of increasing responsibility, including General Manager of the Queens Gas Operations department - where he was responsible for directing the operation and maintenance of the company’s natural gas distribution system in the borough of Queens, and other positions with the Corporate Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) department; the Distribution Engineering department; the Customer Service, Energy Management, Electric Operations and Electric Planning departments. He also served as an Assistant to the Chairman of Con Edison.

Throughout his professional career, Mr. Dawes has been recognized by various organizations for his outstanding company and community work. For example, he has been the recipient of Con Edison’s highest honor – the “Living Our Values” (LOV) award; and he has also received the Con Edison/YMCA “Black Achiever of the Year” award. He is an active member of the New York chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE – NYMAC) where he previously served as President and currently serves a member of the Executive Board. He also served as a member of the National Board of Directors for AABE (where he chaired the National Scholarship Committee).

He is a Trustee with New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and was the President of the Polytechnic Alumni Association (PIAA). He supports the School in several ways including: mentor for several students, corporate recruiter, guest lecturer, and is actively involved with several projects aimed at increasing research funding for the School of Engineering such as street work coordination in New York City and natural gas leak detection and mitigation.

Mr. Dawes holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York and has attended advanced professional programs offered by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), General Electric (GE), Power Technologies Incorporated (PTI), and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He has also participated as a volunteer with the National Urban League’s Black Executive Exchange Program (BEEP) and, performs community service work with New York City FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).