Haywood attended West Georgia College from 1948 to 1950, then served in the United States Navy from August 1950 to June 1954.
[2] He joined the George Peabody College for Teachers, now part of Vanderbilt University, in 1962, rising to full professor in 1969.
[2] From 1971 to 1983 Haywood was director of the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Education and Human Development.
He served as Chairman, Committee on Peer Review, National Institute of Handicapped Research, United States Department of Education from 1980 to 1981.
Appointed by President Reagan to the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council, Haywood served from 1983 to 1988.
He has published more than 250 articles, books, and reviews in his research fields of mental retardation, cognitive education, motivation, and psychological assessment.
In 1988 Haywood received the Edgar A. Doll Award, from APA's Division 33, for Research on Mental Retardation.
[4] In 1993, he was recognized by Vanderbilt University with its Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professorship.