Daw graduated from the
University of Florida in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. He undertook doctoral study in the subject at the
California Institute of Technology, guided by advisers Darryl Smith and Tom McGill. Upon completing his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1981, Daw worked at the
Sandia National Laboratories until 1994, when he began teaching at Clemson. ==Academic Career and Honors==