Peter Bosselmann was trained at Karlsruhe University in Germany where he studied with Egon Eiermann and with the Swedish landscape architect, Gunnar Martinsson. He came to the United States to work with Oswald Mathias Ungers, Donald Appleyard and Christopher Alexander. He has set up simulation/visualization laboratories in New York City at The New School, in Tokyo at Keio University, and in Milan at the Polytechnic University. He is the recipient of numerous design awards, including AIA, ASLA and ACIP awards for his work in San Francisco; an Urban Design Institute Award for his work in Oakland, California; recognition for the Seaton Airport Lands design competition in Ontario, Canada; Progressive Architecture Awards for urban design research for work in San Francisco and on Toronto’s Downtown Plan; an award from the American Planning Association; and an invited exhibition of his work at the Triennale in Milan, Italy.

In 1983, He joined the faculty in the UC Berkeley College of Environmenatl Design's Departments of City and Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, a department he chaired from 2002 to 2006. He also served as longtime Chair of the Master of Urban Design Degree Program, which he co-founded in 1997.

In addition to his academic research and teaching, Professor Bosselmann has been a practicing urban designer since 1973, with extensive national and international urban design experience, including contributions in San Francisco, Oakland, New York City, and internationally in Canada, Japan, China, and Germany.