Jim graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE). After graduation he served the U.S. Marine Corps as an AV-8A Harrier pilot and the corporate world as an information technology executive. He received a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MALA) from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, a Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Theology and Religion from the University of Oxford in Oxford, UK, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Islamic Studies from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/Middlesex University in Oxford, UK.