R. David Coolidge received his Ph.D. in 2023 from the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), with a dissertation about Muslim perceptions of the Hindu tradition. From 2008-2013 he worked as a Muslim chaplain, first at Dartmouth College and then at Brown University. From 2014-2017 he taught an undergraduate course on Islamic law and ethics at New York University. He has served on the boards of various American Muslim institutions, including Zaytuna College and Taleef Collective. He converted to Islam in 1998, and in 2004 married Sumaiya Balbale, daughter of early American Muslim activists Shafi and Nishat Balbale (Allah have mercy on them).