Raphael J. Sonenshein (born November 10, 1949, in Nutley, New Jersey) is Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles and was previously a professor of political science at California State University, Fullerton, where he also served as chairman of the department.
Sonenshein recently returned to the United States after completing a semester teaching in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship.
Sonenshein recently transferred to California State University, Los Angeles, where he was appointed Executive Director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs.
It boosted the mayor's power and led to the creation of neighborhood councils and area planning commissions.
He is a nephew of retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Nathan Sonenshein.