Richard C. McCarty

Career McCarty began his career at the National Institute of Mental Health, where he worked as a research associate in pharmacology. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1978, he was appointed assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, where he remained until 1998. During his time at Virginia, he served as chair of the Department of Psychology from 1990 to 1998.

In 1998, McCarty was named executive director for Science at the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C., where he helped the APA launch the "Decade of Behavior". The Decade of Behavior, a nickname for the 2000s and successor to the 1990s' "Decade of the Brain", was a public education campaign—endorsed by more than 70 professional associations across a variety of disciplines—to bring attention to the importance of behavioral and social science research. McCarty also spent time visiting universities and regional psychological associations to discuss how the APA might better represent psychologists nationally.

Vanderbilt's College of Arts and Science named McCarty as its new dean in 2001. In addition to his decanal duties, McCarty taught a psychology seminar for first-year undergraduate students entitled "Stress, Health, and Behavior" and had a dual appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine. replacing Nicholas S. Zeppos, who was himself elevated to the university chancery. McCarty stepped down from the position of provost on June 30, 2014; he joined the Vanderbilt Psychology Department faculty after a yearlong leave.

Much of McCarty's research has centered on behavioral and physiological adaptations to stress, and he has written more than 30 chapters and 150 articles for various publications. They have four children and four grandchildren.