Dermot Hayes is the Pioneer Hi-Bred International Chair in Agribusiness, professor of economics, and professor of finance at Iowa State University. He heads the Trade and Agricultural Policy Division at CARD, a position he also held from 1990 through 1998. He is co-director, with Jacinto Fabiosa, of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, a research center dually administered through CARD at Iowa State and at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He is also a leader of the Policy Task Force of the Plant Science Institute at Iowa State.

A native of the Republic of Ireland, Hayes obtained his degree in agriculture science from the University College in Dublin in 1981 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986 with a major in international trade. Hayes joined the Department of Economics at Iowa State University in March 1986. He has distinguished himself with many awards at the college and university levels for his work as a teacher and researcher. In 2006 he received a "Publication of Enduring Quality" award from the American Agricultural Economics Association. AAEA named him a Fellow in 2007, its highest recognition for distinction in the discipline. Besides his analysis of U.S. farm policy and international agricultural trade, his other research interests include food safety, livestock modeling, demand analysis, and commodity markets.