David D. Grafton was born in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S. in 1966. In 1993 he graduated with a Master of Divinity from Luther-Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned his PhD in 2001 from the Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, University of Birmingham, UK. His dissertation was entitled, 'Muslim Opinions of the Political Rights of Christians: A Case Study of the Lebanese 'ulamā'': 1975-1979.' It was later republished as 'The Christians of Lebanon: Political Rights in Islamic Law,' I.B. Tauris, 2004.

From 1994 to 1997, David Grafton served as a pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ridgefield, New Jersey, U.S. There he also served as the director of a Reformed Lutheran Church ecumenical program called the 'North Jersey Christian-Muslim Project.' This project aimed at providing opportunities for Christian-Muslim Dialogue.

In 1998, while he was conducting research for his PhD dissertation, Grafton was a visiting lecturer at the Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon, where he taught Islamic Studies. In 1999 David Grafton became the pastor of St. Andrew's United Church of Cairo, an international, interdenominational, English-language church and served there until 2003. In 2000 he began serving as an adjunct lecturer at the Dar Comboni Arabic Studies Institute in Cairo, Egypt, a Roman Catholic institution of the Comboni Fathers. There he lectures on 'Modern Islamic Thought' and 'Inter-faith Dialogue.'

In 2003 Grafton was appointed as the coordinator of Graduate Studies at the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), where he taught Comparative Religions and Middle East Christianity. In 2004, he was additionally appointed as acting director for the Center for Middle East Christianity at ETSC, and in 2005 he became chairman of the Comparative Studies Department at ETSC.

- International Editorial Advisor, Hervormde Theological Studies Journal Pretoria, South Africa (since 2004) " Arab-West Report Board of Advisors, Egypt (since 2003) " American Academy of Religion (since 2001) " Dar Comboni Islamicists Association, Egypt (since 1999)

Grafton is a Lutheran pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and a scholar of both Christianity and Islam. See "Education, Career and Personal Background" and "Involvement in Arab-West/Intercultural/Interfaith Relations" for further information.

As a scholar Dr. Grafton is explicitly involved in interfaith relations as a graduate of Christian theology and a professor of Islamic Studies. This interfaith involvement is also seen in his practical career.

While serving as pastor in the U.S. and Egypt, David Grafton has worked in the field of interfaith dialogue (refer to "Education, Career and Personal Background"). In St. Andrew's United Church in Cairo, David Grafton was involved in fostering positive relations between Christians and Muslims. The church runs a refugee ministry for Sudanese and Africans from the Horn. Many of these refugees are Muslims. In addition, at Saint Andrew's United Church David Grafton conducted educational programs for Western Christian expatriates to teach them about Islam and Oriental Christianity.

Dr. David Grafton is a lecturer of comparative religions at ETSC. He also teaches 'Modern Islamic Thought' and 'Inter-faith Dialogue' at the Dar Comboni Arabic Studies Institute in Cairo. Since 2003 Rev Dr. David D. Crafton has been a member of the Arab-West Report Board of Advisors. Additional Information on other issues

" AWR " The biography is mainly based on an interview with David D. Grafton and his personal CV, which is not publicly available. The content of the biography has been reviewed by David Grafton himself.