Dr. Haymet took up the role as Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Vice Chancellor for UC San Diego Marine Sciences, and Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences in September 2006.

Prior to joining Scripps, Dr. Haymet served as Science and Policy Director and former Chief of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency. Dr. Haymet is an Australian who completed his first degree in Physical Chemistry at the University of Sydney, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

He worked at Harvard, Berkeley and the University of Utah from 1981-1991. In 1991 he returned to Australia as Professor and Chair of Theoretical Chemistry at Sydney University. In 1998 he became Professor and Chair of Physical Chemistry at the University of Houston. In 2000 he established the Environmental Modelling Institute at the University working in the area of environmental modeling of ozone depletion and climate change with both air and marine applications.