The Haley Lecture Series was endowed in 1989 by William R. Haley, Class of 1945, in honor and memory of his late brother, James F. Haley, Class of 1950.

Will Haley was a philosophy major at Princeton, his brother a history major. Both brothers earned law degrees from Harvard. Will served for many years as legislative counsel to the late Senator John S. Cooper (Kentucky) and was a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Neither brother majored in art history, but both took several courses in the department. Will Haley credits these courses with giving him “in later years of travel a layman's interest in art and architecture which (he) would never have had without the exposure of McCormick Hall.”