Steven Payne is an assistant professor in special education. He received his B.S. in psychology from the University of Florida and his M.A. and Ph.D. in behavioral psychology from the University of Kansas.

Payne's research interests include applying applied behavior analysis to the early childhood education population, autistic advocacy in behavior analysis, behavioral economics, and translational research. Payne has also worked extensively in applied animal behavior, pioneering work in applying applied behavior analysis to animal shelter populations.