Tim Hayward (born 1955) is professor of environmental political theory at the University of Edinburgh and director of the university's Just World Institute, a body set up to "foster interdisciplinary research into the global challenges facing the international order, with particular attention to issues of ethics and justice". Hayward cofounded the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM), a group of academics and others which supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's claims that the Syrian White Helmets civil defence organisation has staged false flag attacks in order to trigger Western retaliation against the Syrian regime. The group has gained attention and criticism for disputing the veracity of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War.