Dr. Hawass has a number of great qualities, first being his enthusiasm for his subject. He's a scholar, but also a kid in a candy store when it comes to field work and the history of Egypt.
Many scholars lean heavily toward the stuffy side. Hawass makes Egyptology accessible and enjoyable. That's why he's so great on camera.
I never had an opportunity to meet him, though I lived in Egypt for two years while studying anthropology, sociology, and Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. That was 95-97 so it was just before he really came into the media limelight. He's done quite a bit in the field, even if he hasn't discovered anything like Tut's tomb. Remember, archaeology is the science of studying past cultures, not the adventure of finding gold relics. Simple finds that never make it past the pages of KMT (a scholarly journal on Egyptian archaeology), usually tell us more about daily life in ancient Egypt than the artifacts found in a king's tomb.
Another big plus, in my opinion, is that Hawass is actually an Egyptian with a high position in his field in Egypt. That's good to see. I did my Master's thesis on Edward Said's Orientalism. Said basically says the west dominates the east and uses it for an imperialistic playground. Often true, though I disagree with much of what Said wrote. (Said had issues with his father, and I think they carried over to his view of the west.) But it's good to see an Egyptologist who isn't American or British.
Finally, regarding his push for the return of artifacts to Egypt, he's completely justified, particularly in cases where significant finds were essentially smuggled out of the country. The Rosetta Stone was taken during French occupation, and the bust of Nefertiti was (if I recall correctly) smothered in mud and shipped out as 'another unfinished bust' from a workshop. Though its value was known immediately by the German team that discovered it, they snuck it out of the country, bounced it around museums for a while low key, and eventually displayed it as the bust of the famed Queen Nefertiti. Rather nefarious.
The village of Gourna outside of Luxor is famed for being the home to many generations of looters, who built their homes over the entrances to tombs. They looted for a living, and sold mummies and grave goods to archaeologists, tourists, and curators. If they found gold statues, they usually melted them down because selling a bar of gold was easier than fencing a gold statue. Sad to think how many statues or other gold relics were lost because of that. So there are literally thousands and thousands of stolen artifacts scattered around the world. Hawass just want to get some of the more important ones back.
Hawass also assisted in getting the mummy of Ramses I returned to Egypt after a museum bought the Egyptian collection from a museum of the bizarre in Canada at Niagra Falls. Good going there.
As was said earlier, less important artifacts or even minor mummies should be displayed around the world. Egyptian history is the world's history. But Hawass is right in thinking royal mummies, and artifacts like the Rosetta Stone and bust of Nefertiti should be returned to Egypt. They belong in a museum! The Egyptian Museum!