Syed Atif Rizwan grew up in New Jersey and completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University, where he majored in Economics and minored in Chemistry. After graduation, he spent 8 years in the financial services industry, during which time he worked in New Jersey, New York, and Los Angeles. In 2009, he matriculated in Claremont Graduate School’s Master’s in Islamic Studies program and in 2011 he enrolled in the Islamic studies doctoral program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Syed joined the CTU faculty in 2018 and became director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies Program in 2020. His research interests include history of Islamic law; hadith studies; medieval and post-modern theories of punishment; and interreligious dialogue and studies.