Sam Sommers, Ph.D.

Sam Sommers, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Racial Equity and Diversity Lab at Tufts University

Sam Sommers, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at Tufts University. He is a social psychologist and director of the Racial Equity and Diversity Lab at Tufts, which conducts experimental social psychological research aimed to better understand and address the causes and consequences of contemporary racism.

Sommers has won multiple awards at Tufts, including the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Advising and the Gerald R. Gill Professor of the Year Award. He received an early career researcher award from the American Psychology-Law Society and has won the Faculty Multicultural Service Award at Tufts.

Sommers has written two general audience books (Situations Matter and This is Your Brain on Sports) and his research has been featured in the New York TimesHarpers MagazineGood Morning America, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He has testified as an expert witness in criminal trials in seven states.

Sommers earned his B.A. from Williams College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan.