Hayes worked in the Office of the United States Secretary of War in Washington, D.C., the motion picture industry, publishing, banking, and for the Coca-Cola Company. For 35 years, he was a Coca-Cola executive; he was secretary-treasurer, vice president, and as a director of Coca-Cola International. He was on the board of directors of the Bank of Delaware (now PNC Bank) from 1943 to 1965, having previously been a Director of its predecessor, The Equitable Trust Company, from 1935 to 1943. Hayes also had a long career of public service. He was a chairman of the James Foundation, president of Community Funds, Inc., and a longtime director of the New York Community Trust. He died in 1977 at the age of 82, leaving the Common Wealth Awards as part of his charitable legacy.^[1]

Each recipient of the Common Wealth Award receives a $50,000 prize.^[2] It is presented at an annual, invitation-only, black-tie dinner hosted at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.

In their 39-year history, the Common Wealth Awards have conferred $6 million in prize money to 201 honorees of international renown.^[2] The awards are funded by the Common Wealth Trust.

Since 2000, more than sixty Delaware high school students have met and talked to the winning world leaders through the Common Wealth Award Writing Contest.^[2] Four winners of the writing contest and their parents or guardians are invited each year to the Common Wealth Awards ceremony, where the honorees are recognized for their lifetime achievement. As time allows, students are often able to talk directly with the winners.

Contest winners are publicly acknowledged at the Common Wealth Awards ceremony and receive a framed picture of themselves taken with the honorees.

• List of general science and technology awards