Meet Robert "Bob" Pearson

Email Bob [email protected]

​Bob earned a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago, after which he worked to promote research in the social sciences and improvements in the nation’s statistical system. (His brother always suspected this was a cover for work as a spy. It wasn’t.) Much of his professional career was spent in administrative roles, including a stint as Associate Dean at Carnegie Mellon University. His last job before retiring was to teach in the public administration program at the University of Pennsylvania where he authored a shoulda-been-a-better-selling textbook in applied statistics, Statistical Persuasion. During retirement, he authored a travel book on RVing (You Gotta Be Nuts to Own an RV) and a memoir about growing up in St. Louis, In Black and White. The memoir was recipient of a Royal Palm Award for 2020 from the Florida Writers Association.

Bob dabbled in art throughout his career, studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Philadelphia) and the Carnegie Institute (Pittsburgh). He showed promise in art from an early age, garnering recognition for Christmas posters he created while in grade school. He set aside art for many years to pursue other interests (and earn a living) but always fell back on it when he grew weary of work that seemed only to push paper from his desk to someone else’s. Art fulfills the need to create tangible objects that others may enjoy and – better still -- purchase. He now pursues art professionally to reduce the inventory of work that clutters his house and to pay for supplies.
Bob’s art at Artisans is based largely on color pencil and ink, which doesn’t require clean-up nor setup. The work has appeared in juried shows at the Orlando Museum of Art and the Glen Arbor Center for the Arts (Michigan). Bob expects to become a famous artist soon. He better.