She received her Bachelor of Science and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also has a Master of Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Advised by Bernhardt J. Wuensch, her PhD thesis is entitled "Synthesis, crystal structure and ionic conductivity of some alkali rare earth silicates."
Haile spent three years as an assistant professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. She joined the Caltech faculty in 1996, where she worked for 18 years before moving to Northwestern University in 2015. At Northwestern, Haile is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and a Professor of Applied Physics.