As the Director of Online Learning, Stacy Hawthorne led the design of Davidson Academy Online programs, which now include a la carte courses and a full-time online high school for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. Hawthorne was awarded a 2018 Blackboard Catalyst Award in the Teaching and Learning category for the unique and personalized model of online education used at the Davidson Academy.

Hawthorne has extensive experience as an educational strategist having implemented blended and online learning programs in public, parochial and independent schools in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia and Georgia. Mrs. Hawthorne began her educational consulting career as a member of Evergreen Education Group. She has keynoted at blended and online learning events across the US, including delivering an opening Ignite session in Atlanta in 2014.

Before beginning her research and consulting career, Mrs. Hawthorne was a technology coordinator for a public school district in Ohio. Mrs. Hawthorne also has several years of teaching experience in gifted education.

Hawthorne is currently a doctoral candidate at Boise State University. She is working on her dissertation in the field of online learning with an emphasis in gifted education. She holds an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Ashland University and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Georgia. She has been a licensed educator and administrator in Ohio and Oregon and currently holds licenses in mathematics, social studies, gifted and talented, and school administration in Nevada.