Dr. Lawson grew up in the Central Valley of California where he attended California State University, Stanislaus for his undergraduate degree. From there, he went on to complete an M.A. in Arab Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He spent a year working as a national security analyst at a large defense contractor in northern Virginia before completing his Ph.D. in Science & Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.