Sechrest joined the faculty of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in 1956 as an assistant professor of psychology. He left Penn State in 1958 to become an assistant professor at Northwestern University, where he was promoted to associate professor in 1964 and to full professor in 1967. In 1973, he became a professor of psychology at Florida State University, and in 1980, he was named director of the Center for Research on the Utilization of Scientific Knowledge in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. In 1984, he joined the University of Arizona as professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, serving as department chair until 1989. He served as president of the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the American Psychological Association) in 1985. He continued to serve as an active faculty member at the University of Arizona until 2002, whereupon he became an emeritus professor there.
Give a short bulleted list of the academic positions held by Sechrest. Each bullet should have the name of the university and the titles that Sechrest had in that university.
- Pennsylvania State University : assistant professor
- Northwestern University: assistant professor, associate professor, full professor
- Florida State University: professor of psychology
- University of Michigan: director of the Center for Research on the Utilization of Scientific Knowledge in the Institute for Social Research
- University of Arizona: professor, chair of the department of Pshychology, emeritus professor