Robert Levine grew up in Brooklyn New York. After graduating high school in 1963, he enrolled at UC Berkeley where he says he had the blind good luck to experience the sixties from hippy central. After Berkeley, he went on to get a master's degree in clinical psychology from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in personality/social psychology from New York University in 1974. He's been a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fresno ever since, with stints as Chairperson of the Department and as Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. Over the years he's also served as a Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brazil, at Sapporo Medical University in Japan, and at Stockholm University in Sweden. He has won awards for both his teaching and research. He has published many articles in professional journals as well as articles in trade periodicals such as Discover, American Demographics, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and American Scientist. His book, A Geography of Time (Basic Books, 1997), was the subject of feature stories around the world, including Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, CNN, the BBC, ABC's Primetime, and NPR's All Things Considered and Marketplace. It has been translated into six languages. His book, The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold (John Wiley & Sons, 2003), has been translated into eight languages. An updated, paperback revision was published in 2006. His most recent book is Stranger in the Mirror (updated edition, The Press at California State University, Fresno, 2017). He is former President of the Western Psychological Association and a Fellow in the American Psychological Association.