The Unlikely Alumnus

The Unlikely Alumnus: Daytime drama star holds doctorate from CEHS

Bill Hayes has portrayed the role of Doug Williams on NBC’s longest running daytime drama, “Days of Our Lives,” graced the cover of TIME Magazine and won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards. He is also an alumnus of the Doctor of Education Program at CEHS.

Hayes’ ties to the state of West Virginia date back to his grandparents, who were both born in the state. Those connections were strengthened in 1986, when Ron Iannone, a CEHS professor emeritus and founder of the West Virginia Public Theater, asked Hayes to travel to West Virginia to perform in a production of “I Do, I Do.”

Hayes, along with his wife, fellow “Days of Our Lives” star Susan Seaforth Hayes, both starred in the show. While in West Virginia, Hayes researched his ancestry and decided to track down his relatives in the state, eventually connecting with some distant cousins.

“I kept studying my ancestors, and Ron, being a professor at heart, suggested that I could get my doctorate at WVU since I was here so much of the time,” Hayes said. “I was intrigued, so I applied and was accepted into the program. We designed a program of study that combined my love of genealogy and family history.”

Ultimately, Hayes’ doctoral dissertation focused on the integration of family history research into high school curriculum. For the project, Hayes worked in two high school classrooms in North Carolina. In a sophomore English class, he asked students to write a three-page paper based on an interview with a relative or acquaintance who was 70 years of age or older. In a senior history class, he assigned students the task of writing a six-to-10-page study of their parents by interviewing as many people as they could. This included their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on.

“The results of that were staggering,” Hayes said. “Nobody did six-to-10 pages. Everyone did 25, 40, 50 pages. The longest was 125 pages. All the students created documents that everyone in their family wanted to have. Both projects were successful, and that’s what I reported on.”

Through his research, Hayes discovered the significance of family history in both the formation of personal identity and as a source of unity. As the students shared their families’ stories, they learned that they each came from pasts that involved struggle, and the class came together as a result.

“Family history is a very valuable thing to study. It’s such a validating and positive thing in a person’s life,” Hayes said. “You trade ideas and stories and learn so much. It produces a self-identity, and it’s a wonderful thing.”

Because Hayes was still performing while working on his doctorate, the degree took eight years for him to complete. He finished the program in 1998.

“I was the only white-haired graduate in a class of about 3,000,” Hayes said. “It was a very exciting time – eight years and I loved every minute of it.”

Earning his doctorate is not the only achievement Hayes has attained in his 70-year career in television. A highlight of his career occurred in April 2018, when Hayes and his wife both received Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Daytime Emmys. They received the recognition for their more than 40 years of work on “Days of Our Lives.”

“We’ve spent our lives acting, not only in television, but in other media, so it was very special to receive that award,” Hayes said.

Television is just one way that the Hayes combine their talents. Over the years, they have found that in addition to performing, they share a passion for writing. In 2005, they released a co-authored memoir, “Like Sand Through the Hourglass,” that revolves around their lives on “Days of Our Lives,” the show that brought them together as a couple on and off-screen.

More recently, the couple’s mutual interest in historical fiction inspired their second book, “Trumpet,” which tells the story of a young woman becoming an actress in 1803. They are currently finishing up the sequel, titled “Jubilee.”

“Writing brings us closer together,” Hayes said. “We were already very close, but the process is something. I write the scene and Susan makes it better, and it’s really fun.”

Whether he’s conducting academic research, performing on the silver screen or writing a novel, Hayes brings his passion for people and the creative process with him.

“As an actor, you are encouraged to study people, and I love that aspect of performing,” Hayes said. “The more you know about people and life the better you can be as an actor and as a writer. And involving yourself in the creative process, that’s a brilliant part of life.”