Frances K. McSweeney received the doctorate from Harvard University in 1974. She is currently Professor of Psychology and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Washington State University.

Dr. McSweeney’s research focuses on basic learning and motivational processes. She has done extensive research on operant conditioning with special focus on the Matching Law, behavioral contrast, and dynamic changes in reinforcer value.

Dr. McSweeney has published more than 100 papers in refereed journals and has received numerous grants from such organizations as the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health. She has served on the editorial boards of such journals as Animal Learning & Motivation, the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and The Behavior Analyst. She is currently Associate Editor of Learning and Motivation. She has served as a member of two US federal grant review panels, is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 3 and 25) and of the American Psychological Society.

Dr. McSweeney has won many awards at WSU, including the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts, the Woman of Distinction Award, the Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professorship, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Colleges of Sciences and Arts, and the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Faculty Member Award. In 1995, she delivered the WSU Distinguished Faculty Address.