Richard C. McCarty (born July 12, 1947) is a professor of psychology and the former provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

[3] 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".

[4][5] McCarty also spent time visiting universities and regional psychological associations to discuss how the APA might better represent psychologists nationally.

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.

McCarty stepped down from the position of provost on June 30, 2014; he joined the Vanderbilt Psychology Department faculty after a yearlong leave.