He is the professor of Criticism and Theory at the MFA program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and the Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California.
In 2021, he was made Chair of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts at Rice University.
In 2003 he co-wrote Art - A sex Book with filmmaker John Waters.
In 2011 Pep Talk published a collection of Hainley's interviews, critical essays, and poems.
In 2014 Hainley wrote a monograph on the artist Elaine Sturtevant, titled "Under the Sign of [ sic]."