DAVIS, CA, August 23, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Richard Coss has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Supported by more than 50 years of career experience in psychology, Dr. Coss continues to be active as Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, where he started teaching in 1974. In his work at the University, he studied 22 species ranging in size from honeybees to elephants and he has published more than 120 research papers relating to the integration of behavioral development and visual and auditory perception, especially how predators are recognized innately. Upon his graduation from the University of Southern California School of Architecture he was employed as an engineer at Douglas Aircraft Company, now known as Boeing Aircraft. While there, he worked in the Advanced Projects Office where he conceived of the method for tethering weightless astronauts operating the Apollo capsule's computer on its way to the moon.
Even at the young age of 23, Dr. Coss was the lead engineer on a lunar-base proposal to NASA. He continued to work for Douglas as he pursued his master's degree, which focused on psychological research based on his theory that human ancestors were prey of predators for a sufficient time to shape perception of predator features, such as two-facing eyes. Dr. Coss posited that these shapes enhanced emotional arousal in a way that influenced works of art, architecture, and product design.
Dr. Coss's career took an international turn in the mid 1960's when he worked as an industrial designer in Raymond Loewy's Paris design office, contributing to Shell Oil corporate branding still used today. As he honed his expertise in the field, he decided to pursue a Ph.D. in comparative psychology at the University of Reading, UK. Again, he focused his studies on how animal features are recognized and their influence on art and design. For his dissertation project, he chose to focus on the provocative effects of two-facing eyes in African jewelfish, mouse lemurs, and autistic children. His professional affiliations are the Animal Behavior Society, the International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology, and the International Society of Ecological Psychology.
Throughout his time as a university professor and retiree, Dr. Coss published papers in a wide range of scientific journals, such as Behaviour, Ecological Psychology, Ethology, and The Journal of Comparative Psychology. His 2005 edited textbook, "Environmental Awareness: Evolutionary, Aesthetic & Social Perspectives," was used to teach the innovative integration of environmental psychology and evolutionary psychology as a way of understanding human impact on climate change. In addition, he holds several international patents on a wearable device for measuring pupillary dilation as an index of emotional arousal. Notably, he has been recognized many times over the years for his professional accomplishments, including five features in Who's Who in America, as well as cover articles in Science magazine and Behavioral Ecology.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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