B.B.A., St. Mary's University, 1989
M.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1991
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1994
David W. Sommer, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's University in 2007 as the Charles E. Cheever Chair of Risk Management. He received his B.B.A. degree from St. Mary's University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. For the twelve years prior to his return to St. Mary's, he was a faculty member in risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

During his career, Sommer has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and Ph.D. levels in the areas of corporate risk management and employee benefits. He has received a number of teaching honors, including the Terry College Teacher of the Year award and the St. Mary's University Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Sommer's research has been published in a variety of academic and professional journals, including Journal of Risk and Insurance, Journal of Financial Services Research, Journal of Banking and Finance, Risk Management and Insurance Review, Journal of Insurance Regulation, Journal of the American Society of CLU and ChFC, and the Journal of Insurance Issues. His research has been honored with several awards, including the Robert I. Mehr Award, presented each year by the American Risk and Insurance Association "for that paper published ten years ago that has best stood the test of time." He is also the co-author of a risk management and insurance textbook. He is a Past- President of the American Risk and Insurance Association and the Southern Risk and Insurance Association.