Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D., is University of Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada in Reno, NV. He is the author of more than 350 scientific articles and twenty-seven books, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory, and is one of the founders of acceptance and commitment therapy.

In 1992, the Institute for Scientific Information reported Hayes among the highest-impact psychologists in the world during the years 1986–90 based on the citation impact of his writings. He was president of the following: Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology, and Division Twenty-Five of the American Psychological Association. He was the first Secretary-Treasurer of the American Psychological Society. He is the recipient of the Don F. Hake Award for Exemplary Contributions to Basic Behavioral Research and Its Applications from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. In 1999, US Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala appointed him to a four-year term on the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse