Lawler is a professor emeritus of English at Yale University, where he served as the master of Ezra Stiles College and also as a lecturer in religion and literature.
[7] After high school, Lawler matriculated at the College of the Holy Cross on a Naval ROTC scholarship.
[8] He entered college as a basketball student athlete but decided to quit the team in freshman year.
His first two years in college were spent receiving a classical education of Greek, Latin, English, French, and history.
In his sophomore year, Lawler sought to major in English to prepare for law school and was elected as the president of his class.
[14] In 1977, Lawler was named a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and worked on a project titled "The one and the many in the Canterbury Tales.
During his second term of service as Master, Ezra Stiles again won the Tyng Cup and continued to win in two subsequent years under the guidance of Schwartz.
[22] Lawler retired from teaching in June 2005 to prepare a commentary on the known versions of Piers Plowman with other scholars.