Born in New Hampshire, Roger Hayward (1899-1979) was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied architecture. Following his graduation from M. I. T., Hayward lived and worked on the east coast of the United States for the first several years of his professional life, employed by a handful of architectural firms.
A move to southern California in the early 1930s, followed by the onset of the Great Depression, saw Hayward branch out beyond the world of architecture to new avenues in both the fine and practical arts. A man of many talents, Hayward is credited with having designed and constructed a model of the moon for the Griffith Planetarium, a nut-cracking machine for the California Walnut Growers Association and the Schmidt-Cassegrain optical arrangement for telescopes, to name just a few of his artistic and industrial innovations.
Following the conclusion of World War II, Hayward helped found the architectural design firm Lunden, Hayward and O’Connor, a successful enterprise up until its dissolution in 1957. From there, Hayward began to focus more on his ambitions as a fine artist, signing contracts with both the Disney company as well as the book publisher W. H. Freeman to work as illustrator and model-maker. Hayward enjoyed a long collaboration with Dr. Linus Pauling in both roles, culminating in the 1964 publication of their co-authored book The Architecture of Molecules .
Roger and his wife Betty were married for nearly fifty-seven years. Their relationship came to a close with his death in 1979.
1899
Roger Hayward is born into an artistic family (his grandfather is the painter William Preston Phelps) on January 7 in Keene, New Hampshire. His father, Robert Peter Hayward, is a local businessman whose hobbies include building and repairing time pieces. His mother, Ina Kittredge (Phelps) Hayward, is an artist. The Hayward family will come to include four children - a daughter, Hilda, and three sons, Roger and twins Julian and Peter.
1906
Receives his first sketchbook.
1917
Graduates from Keene High School and enters the Naval Reserve.
1918
Enters the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studies architecture.
1922
Graduates from MIT, after taking a year off due to illness. Receives a number of awards and accepts a position at Bellows and Aldrich, a Boston architectural firm.
In September, marries Elizabeth ("Betty") Hatfield, originally of Green County, Iowa.
1925
Begins working at Cram and Ferguson, a Boston architectural firm specializing in gothic design.
1926
Sponsored by Cram and Ferguson, Roger and Betty travel to Europe to sketch classical buildings and learn more about European gothic architecture.
1928
Hayward's watercolor paintings are first shown to the public, an event which reinforces his growing reputation as a talented artist. Soon, he becomes a mainstay in the Boston art scene.
1929
Moves to Pasadena, California to assume the position of chief designer at the S.E. Lunden architecture firm in Los Angeles. He becomes friends with various members of the Caltech faculty and, before long, meets Linus Pauling with whom he will collaborate on several projects. Aided by his new acquaintances at Caltech, Hayward educates himself in atomic theory and molecular structure. In his later life, he will also be involved in the construction of several buildings on the Caltech campus.
The U.S. stock market crashes and the Great Depression is soon to arrive. During the Depression years, work in architecture disappears. Hayward seeks out employment any way possible, including as a puppeteer.
1933
Receives an award from the American Institute of Architects for his artwork displayed over the main entrance to the Doheny Memorial Library at the University of Southern California.
1934
Sculpts a 38-foot model of a section of the moon which was commissioned by the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
1936
Develops a walnut cracker for the California Walnut Growers Association.
1938
Procedures in Experimental Physics, written by John D. Strong and illustrated by Roger Hayward, is published.
Becomes the basic designer for the University of Southern California's Allen Hancock Biology Laboratories.
1939
Accepts a year-long position as consulting physicist with National Technical Laboratories, which would later become Beckman Instruments.
1941
Accepts a position as consultant for A. O. Beckman and National Technical Labs.
Relocates to a different address in Pasadena, California.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hayward volunteers to assist the war effort at the Mount Wilson optics laboratory by designing gun-sight optics, anamorphic lenses, roof prisms and other optical devices for use in warfare.
1946
General Chemistry, written by Linus Pauling and illustrated by Hayward, is published. It is the first of four books that the duo will develop together.
1948
Illustrates Harper Frantz's book A Laboratory Study of Chemical Principles and George Beadle's article The Genes of Men and Molds .
1949
Hayward becomes a partner in the architectural firm Lunden, Hayward, and O'Connor.
That same year, Hayward is hired as replacement artist for the "Amateur Scientist" column in Scientific American.
1950
College Chemistry, authored by Linus Pauling and illustrated by Hayward, is published.
1954
A popular audience paper titled "The Structure of Protein Molecules" is published in Scientific American. This paper is the first to include Hayward as a co-author - with Linus Pauling and George Beadle - rather than an illustrator.
1956
Hayward is hired as a consultant to Disney Productions
1957
The architectural firm Lunden, Hayward, and O'Connor dissolves.
1958
Signs a ten year contract to illustrate exclusively for W.H. Freeman Publishers. Although the arrangement provides Hayward with a fair amount of freedom and financial stability, he grows tired of it and prematurely ends the deal.
1964
The Architecture of Molecules by Linus Pauling and Roger Hayward is published.
1968
Begins writing articles and drawing for the Worm Runners Digest, a publication with which he will be associated for almost ten years.
1973
Hayward's involvement with the Amateur Scientist column is terminated due to his deteriorating eyesight.
Roger and Betty move to Merced, California.
1975
Hayward is hospitalized for an extended period of time; he returns home in a weakened state.
1979
On October 11, at age 80, Roger Hayward dies of complications from emphysema. He is survived by Elizabeth Hayward, his wife of nearly fifty-seven years.
From the guide to the Roger Hayward Papers, 1899-2007, (Oregon State University Libraries)
