Cecil W. Hathaway attended the University of Idaho from 1947 to 1951 working towards a degree in Civil Engineering. From June of 1951 and November of 1952, he was employed by General Electric Company. In November of 1952 he joined the U.S. Air Force. In 1955 he returned to the University of Idaho and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering. Hathaway would work as a research tech at the University from June of 1955 to September of 1955, before moving up to an instructor position in September of 1955 until June of 1956. In 1956, Hathaway worked for the City of Lewiston, Idaho as the Assistant and Acting City Engineer. He would attend the University of California Berkeley between 1957 and 1958 at which time he received his Master of Engineering with a specialization in Transportation Engineering. 1958, Hathaway returned to Idaho and was employed by the Idaho Department of Highways as an Assistant Traffic Engineer. In September of 1960, Hathaway once again returned to the University of Idaho as a Research Support and Associate Professor in the College of Engineering, Civil Engineering Department. Hathaway became a Doctor of Philosophy in Transportation and Traffic Engineering from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Washington between 1969 and 1971 after which he would rejoin the University of Idaho Civil Engineering Department. He would serve on various committees, studies, and research groups for project across the Inland Northwest. This includes the Spokane Regional Planning Conference and the Quad-Cities Regional Airport study. Hathaway retired in July of 1991 from the University of Idaho.

Hathaway was born in 1929 in Longview, Washington and married his wife, Mary Alice, in 1950. They would have four sons.