From 1934 until his death, Dawes was concurrently president of the World's Fair organization and the Museum of Science & Industry (MSI). Dawes was the third president of the MSI, after Sewell Avery and William Rufus Abbott. Previously, he had been an active member of the Board of Trustees, helping to brief Waldemar Kaempffert when the latter became the first Executive Director of the Museum of Science & Industry in 1928. (Kaempffert was the "New York Times" science editor and served again after his time at the museum.)