William Hayes (born 12 November 1930, Killorglin) is an Irish-born physicist and academic administrator, active in the United Kingdom.
Hayes came to St John's College, Oxford as an Overseas Scholar in 1955.
He investigated the spectroscopic signatures of imperfections in alkali halides and semiconductors, using varied research techniques that included inelastic light scattering (Raman and Brillouin spectroscopy), magneto-optics (Zeeman effect), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and muon spin resonance (mu-SR).
[citation needed] His publications included the books: In 1990 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for "creative applications of spectroscopy and laser techniques to the understanding of defects in solids.
phase transitions, and semi-conductor physics" [3] Hayes married Joan Ferris in 1962.