Name: "Bob (Robert) Sommer"
Office: 285 Young Hall, UC Davis
Personality: Bob Sommer is an emeritus Professor of Psychology. He hired on in 1964, officially retired in 2004, but is still teaching and publishing. Most recently he taught Research Methods and Abnormal Psychology during the 2007 summer sessions. He is the former chair of the Art, the Rhetoric & Communications, the Environmental Design, and the Psychology Departments. He also was Director of the Center for Consumer Research on campus for fourteen years. He was one of the pioneers in the quest for bike lanes in Davis. He did some of the first research into the optimal size of bike lanes. He has authored several books, including "A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research: Tools and Techniques" a widely read social science research methods text coauthored with his wife. A search of the Shields Library Harvest Catalog Search Engine has 17 listings, from "Expertland" in 1963 to his current textbook. His CV has over 1200 publications from the 1950s to present.
Bob contributes articles to publications both scholarly and popular. He has written for the Davis Enterprise about travels on passenger trains and the public art you can find along California's railroads and highways. He's also written about food, gardening, food cooperatives and Farmers' Markets. The breadth of his vision and erudition might be suggested by the subjects on which his "brief biography" suggests he's willing to consult: design "of bicycle paths, residence halls, geriatric housing, airports, offices, prisons, farmers markets, and other types of facilities." Bob is a pleasure to interact with, an avid talker and a good listener, always full of stories on a wide range of topics.
Bob is married to Barbara Sommer, who is also a researcher and bon vivant.
