Dean W. Zimmerman is an American professor of philosophy at Rutgers University specializing in metaphysics and the philosophy of religion. Zimmerman received his Bachelor's degree from Mankato State University in 1987 in French, Philosophy and English. He went on to receive an M.A. from Brown University in 1990, and then a Ph.D from the same institution in 1992, where he worked with Jaegwon Kim and Roderick Chisholm.