McNaughton is the Chancellor Professor of African Art History Emeritus at Indiana University.
[3] During the 1975 and 1976 academic year, McNaughton began his teaching career in the field of art history as an instructor at Middlebury College.
In the following year, he joined the University of California, Santa Cruz as a lecturer.
In 1977, McNaughton was named Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin.
He was promoted to the Associate level in 1983, but moved to Indiana University in that same year.