Udi Sommer

• Tel Aviv University, Full Professor of Political Science, 2023-
• Tel Aviv University, Head, Barak Leadership Center, 2024-
• Tel Aviv University, Head, Scientific Council of the Center for the Study of the USA, 2020-
•  Tel Aviv University, Political Science Associate professor, 2020-2023
•  John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, John Jay Research Fellow 2023-24
•  Israeli Young National Academy of Science, Chair, 2018-19, Member, 2015-19
•  Center for the Study of the USA at Tel Aviv University, Founding Head 2018 – 2020
• Tel Aviv University, The Blavatnik Multidisciplinary Center for Cyber Research, Member, Scientific Council, 2015-
• Columbia University, Political Science Israel Institute Visiting Professor – 2016-18, 2024
• Tel Aviv University, Political Science Senior Lecturer, 2013-20
• Tel Aviv University, Political Science Lecturer, 2010-13
• University at Albany: State University of New York, Department of Political Science Assistant Professor (tenure track), 2007-10, 2024

• Global Young Academy 2019-
• Israeli Young National Academy of Sciences 2015-19
• Chair of Israel Young Academy 2018-19

• Stony Brook University: SUNY, Ph.D. in Political Science, August 2007
  Exams: Political Methodology, American Politics, Political Economy
  Dissertation: “A Supreme Discretion and A Passivity Conundrum: Strategic Agenda Setting in the US Supreme Court.”
  Committee: Jeff Segal (adviser), Stanley Feldman, Scott Basinger and Jeff Lax (Columbia)
• Tel Aviv University, M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, 2002
  MA Thesis: ”What Leads to Aggression? The Development of a Predictive Model”
  Michael Rosenbaum (adviser)
• Hebrew University, Amirim Program for Outstanding Students, 1999
• Hebrew University, B.A. in Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, 1999

The Emerging Republican Minorities: Racial and Ethnic Realignment in the Trump Era (Bloomsbury, 2025) (with Idan Franco)

Producing Reproductive Rights: Determining Abortion Policy Worldwide (Cambridge University Press, 2019) (with Aliza Forman-Rabinovici)

Legal Path Dependence and the Long Arm of the Religious State: Sodomy Provisions and Gay Rights Across Nations and Over Time (SUNY Press 2016) (with Victor Asal)A Supreme Agenda: Strategic Case Selection on the US Supreme Court (Palgrave-MacMillan 2014)

Home but Away: The Experience of Immigrant Parents (2010 Hebrew version received extensive media coverage, with its findings reported in The New York Post, Ynet, Haaretz, Israeli TV Channels 2 & 10 and Kol Yisrael, among many other outlets)

• Solidarity in question: activation of dormant political dispositions and Latino support for Trump in 2020. 2024. European Political Science Review (with Idan Fanco)
• Environmental Peacebuilding: Moving beyond resolving Violence-Ridden conflicts to sustaining peace. 2024. World Development (with Francesca Fassbender)
• Trump’s African Americans? Racial resentment and Black support for Trump in the 2020 elections. 2023. Politics, Groups, and Identities (with Idan Franco)
• The rise of companies in the cyber era and the pursuant shift in national security. 2023. Political Science (with Eviatar Matania and Nir Hassid)
• Tech titans, cyber commons and the war in Ukraine: An incipient shift in international relations. 2023. International Relations (with Eviatar Matania)
• Geographical analysis of political epidemiology: Spatial quantification of simultaneity between politics and pandemics. 2023. Political Geography
• The Political Ramifications of Judicial Institutions: Establishing a Link between Dobbs and Gender Disparities in the 2022 Midterms. 2023. Socius
• Data from a one-stop-shop comprehensive cancer screening center. 2023. Journal of Clinical Oncology
  Opportunistic legislation under a natural emergency: Grabbing government power in a democracy during COVID-19. 2023. Regulation & Governance
• Pandemic Politics: COVID-19 as a New Type of Political Emergency . 2022 (forthcoming). Political Psychology (with Or Rappel-Kroyzer).
  Media Coverage and the Success of COVID-19 Response in Democracy. 2022 (forthcoming) Information Technology & Politics (with Or Rappel-Kroyzer).
• Urban attributes and the spread of COVID-19: The effects of density, compliance and socio-political factors in Israel. 2021. Science of the Total Environment (with Nir Barak and Nir Mualem).
• Comparative Abortion Law and Politics. 2021. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (with Aliza Forman-Rabinovici)
  
• Norms and Political Payoffs in Supreme Court Recusals.2020. Political Behavior (with Quan Li and Jonathan Parent)
• The Politicization of Women’s Health and Wellbeing2020. Sustainability (with Aliza Forman-Rabinovici)
• Covert or not Covert: National Strategies During Cyber Conflict2019. In 11th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Silent Battle (with Gil Baram)
• Women, Demography and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy. 2018. Demography
• Explaining the Birthright Citizenship Lottery: Longitudinal and Cross-National Evidence for Key Determinants. 2018. Regulation & Governance (with Omer Solodoch)
• Reproductive Policy Makers: Comparative Analyses of the Influences of International and Domestic Institutions on Reproductive Rights 2018. Public Administration (with Aliza Forman-Rabinovici) 
• Political and Legal Antecedents of Affirmative Action: A Comparative Framework2018. Journal of Public Policy (with Victor Asal)
  An Impediment to Gender Equality?: Religion’s Influence on Development and Reproductive Policy. 2018.World Development (with Aliza Forman-Rabinovici)
• Ideological Influences on Governance and Regulation:The Comparative Case of Supreme Courts  2016. Regulation & Governance (with Keren Weinshall-Margel and Yaacov Ritov)
• Examining extrajudicial killings: Discriminant analyses of human rights’ violations 2019. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict (with Victor Asal)
• International Effects on the Security Wall Rulings of the Israeli High Court2017. Israel Studies Review
• Translating Justice: The International Organization of Constitutional Courts2016. Law & Policy, 38(2): 124-142 (with Olga Frishman)
  Rainbows for Rights: The Role of LGBT Activism in Gay Rights Promotion2018. Societies without Borders (with Victor Asal and Amanda Murdie)
• Setting the Agenda of the United States Supreme Court? Organized Interests and the Decision to File an Amicus Curiae Brief at Cert. 2015. Justice System Journal (with Katherine Zuber and Jonathan Parent)
• Institutional Paths to Policy Change. 2013. Law and Society Review, 47(1): 409-39 (with Victor Asal, Katherine Zuber and Jonathan Parent)
  Original Sin:A Cross National Study of the Legality of Homosexual Acts . 2013. Comparative Political Studies, 46(3): 320-51 (with Victor Asal and Paul Harwood) Findings covered on Foreign Policy Blog and Annual Review of Law & Social Science
• Petitioners’ Role in Strategic Auditing: IsCertiorari Contingent on Litigant Behavior?2013. The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 10(1): 54-75 (with Maxwell Mak and Andrew Sidman)
• Globalization, Threat and Religious Freedom. 2013. Political Studies (with Gizem Arikan and Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom)
• Representative Appointments: The Effect of Women’s Groups in Contentious Supreme Court Confirmations.2013. Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, 34(1) Lead Article
• Setting a Supreme Agenda: Opinion Minded Justices and the Decision on Certiorari. 2011. Rationality and Society, 23(4): 452-77
• Judicial Decision Making in Times of Financial Crises: State Supreme Courts and Mortgage Moratorium Laws in the Great Depression. 2011. Judicature, 95(2): 68-77 (with Quan Li)
• Can Faith Limit Immorality? The Politics of Religion and Corruption. 2012. Democratization (with Gizem Arikan and Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom)
• A Cross-National Analysis of the Guarantees of Rights. 2012. The International Political Science Review (with Victor Asal)
• Crusades Against Corruption and Institutionally Induced Strategies in the Israeli Supreme Court 2009. Israel Affairs, 15(3)
• Extreme Dissensus: Why Plurality Opinions Happen on the US Supreme Court 2010. Justice System Journal, 31(2) (with Pamela Corley, Art Ward and Amy Steigerwalt)
• Beyond Defensive Denials: Evidence from the Blackmun Files for a Broader Scope of Strategic Certiorari. 2010. Justice System Journal, 31(3): 316-41
• A Strategic Court and National Security: Comparative Lessons from the Israeli Case. 2010. Israel Studies Forum 25(2)
           

• US Department of State and the Fulbright Program 2018-21 (1 Million NIS with multiple partners across TAU)
• Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center Grant 2017-9 ($85,000)
• Israel Institute Fellowship at Columbia University 2016-18 ($178,000)
• Israeli Young National Academy of Sciences 2015-9
• Finalists, LSA 2nd Half-Century Project, Law & Society Association 2014
• Provost’s List of Top 100 Outstanding Professors, Tel Aviv University, 2015
• Marie Curie Grant, the European Research Council, 2011-2015, (€100,000)
• Provost’s List of Top 100 Outstanding Professors, Tel Aviv University, 2014
• Martin Edelman Award for Outstanding Teaching, University at Albany, 2010 ($500)
• University at Albany: SUNY Research Awards Program, 2008-2009 ($9,637)
• NSF Doctoral Dissertation Grant, 2007-2008 ($11,900)
• Fulbright Grant for Doctoral Students, 2003-2005 ($25,000)
• Stony Brook Foundation, Summer Research Grant, 2004 ($5,000)
• Fulbright Professional Enhancement Grant, 2004
• Full tuition scholarship, Stony Brook University, 2003-07 ($40,000)
• Financial aid Fellowship, Stony Brook University, 2003-07 ($48,000)
• Full tuition scholarship, Hebrew University, 1996-99 ($14,000)
• Financial aid Fellowship, Hebrew University, 1996-99 ($3,000)
• Dean’s List, Hebrew University, 1996, 1997, 1998
• The ‘Payis’ Award for Young Artists, 2002 ($1,500)

• “Remote Participants” In Tal, D. Israeli Identities: Between East and West. London: Routledge (2013) with Michal Ben Zvi Sommer

• “Sodomy Laws in a Comparative Perspective” (2016) Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies

• Review of Vanessa Baird’s “Answering the Call of he Court: How Justices and Litigants Set the Supreme Court Agenda” Law and Society Review 42(2), 2008 (May): 439-441
• Review of Paul Collins’ “Friends of the Supreme Court.” Law and Society Review 43(4), 2009 (December): 943-945

American National Science Foundation (reviewer and invited panelist), Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, Law and Society Review, Comparative Politics, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Journal of Conflict Resolution, European Journal of International Relations, Political Research Quarterly, Law & Policy, American Politics Research, International Political Science Review, Political Psychology, Sociological Focus, Politica, Justice System Journal

Political Research Quarterly’s 2011 Outstanding Reviewer Award

• Department of Political Science, Columbia University, 2016 – 2018
• International Masters Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediation, Tel Aviv University, 2011 – present
• International Masters Program in Security and Diplomacy, Tel Aviv University, 2011 – present
• Political Science, Tel Aviv University, 2010 – present
• Political Science, University at Albany: State University of New York, 2007-10
• Political Science, Stony Brook University, 2005-7

Gad Yacobi scholarship, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fellowship, Raffa and Paula Atlas Endowment Fund scholarship, The Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC) exploratory research grant, Tali Gordon Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Mirella Haggiag Research Grant 

PhD Dissertation Committee Chair or Member: Jonathan Parent (University at Albany: State University of New York); Katie Zuber (University at Albany: State University of New York); Kimberley Fletcher (University at Albany: State University of New York); Aliza Forman-Rabinovici (Tel Aviv U); Gil Baram (Tel Aviv U); Lior Yoffe (Tel Aviv U); Sharon Elhadad (Tel Aviv U) 

MA Thesis Adviser: Hila Osovski (Tel Aviv U); Romanos Kefalidis (Tel Aviv U); Seher Dongel (Tel Aviv U); Yulia Gurelik (Tel Aviv U); Sharon Alon (Tel Aviv U); Alexandru Bar (Tel Aviv U); Inke Kavantera (Tel Aviv U); Armando Murillo (Tel Aviv U); Suzanna Christiansen (Tel Aviv U); Leah Croughan (Tel Aviv U); Clareta Treger (second reader; Tel Aviv U); Brooklin Nash (Tel Aviv U); Lev Topor (Tel Aviv U); Simone Lehman (Tel Aviv U); Dor Gosher (Tel Aviv U); Simon Luling (Tel Aviv U); Danny Kommel (Tel Aviv U); Omer Solodoch (Tel Aviv U); Efrat Lachter (Tel Aviv U); David Jensen-Lopez (Tel Aviv U); Fred Hockney (Tel Aviv U); Roi Shafrir (Tel Aviv U); Steven Ronak (Tel Aviv U)

Doctoral – Survey Class in Comparative Politics; Survey Class in Public Law; Math for Political Scientists; Advanced Judicial Decision Making Seminar; Advanced Political Methodology; Introduction to the Discipline of Political Science

Masters – Intermediate Statistics for Public Policy; Research Methods in Comparative Politics and International Relations; Israeli Politics; Israeli-Arab Conflict; US Foreign Policy

Undergraduate – Israeli Politics, Introduction to Comparative Politics; American Supreme Court; Constitutional Law and Politics: USA; Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; Research Methods

American, European, Midwest, Southern and Western Political Science Associations

• Vertebrae (Forthcoming), volume of poetry published by Emda/Carmel Publishers
• Order of the Acts of Love, volume of poetry published by Emda/Bittan Publishers, Tel Aviv, 2002
• Published short stories and poetry in Ha’aretz, Maariv, Yedioth Aharonoth, Iton 77’, Moznayim, Gag, Mitan, Shvo, Emda, and Helicon