Sheldon Greaves received his Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern Studies from the University of California at Berkeley in 1996, with his main area of emphasis on the Hebrew Bible. His other areas of emphasis were Canaanite Religion and Religion and Magic in Ancient Mesopotamia. He has published articles on wordplay in Ugaritic magical texts and Babylonian omens, as well as the book of Genesis.

His academic and intellectual work extends beyond the Biblical world; in 1997 he co-founded what eventually became Henley-Putnam University, the first private university to cater exclusively to the intelligence, counterterrorism, and protection communities. He developed many of the original courses and degree programs, including the first-ever professional doctorate in Strategic Security. Dr. Greaves also served as the University’s Chief Academic Officer until 2009. He has also written on matters related to national security, most recently on the cultural and historical roots of Middle Eastern leadership culture.

Dr. Greaves is also a passionate advocate of science and science literacy. He served as a Project Manager and Editor of an online amateur science newsletter, and started and ran Tinker’s Guild, a science education publishing company that published the complete run of Scientific American‘s famous column “The Amateur Scientist” on a searchable CD-ROM.

Currently Dr. Greaves is a Scholar-in-Residence at Christ Church Episcopal in Portola Valley, California, where he and his spouse, Dr. Denise Greaves, conduct seminars on biblical topics and the ancient world as part of the adult education program. He is also a popular instructor with Stanford Continuing Studies, having recently completed a very popular course on the Old Testament. A new course on the Dead Sea Scrolls is in preparation.