Dr. Nathaniel Rich studied Western philosophy and European history as an undergraduate before pursuing MA and PhD degrees in religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research has focused on the intellectual and institutional history of Nyingma traditions in Tibet. Dr. Rich worked as a freelance editor both during graduate school and immediately after, and he began working for 84000 as a part-time associate editor before moving to full-time work as an editor and then research editor.

Outside 84000, Dr. Rich is actively involved with Dawn Mountain Tibetan Buddhist Temple and Research Institute in Houston, Texas. He first met its founders as an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, and it was their encouragement that led him to learn Tibetan, pursue graduate study, and work however he could to support the transmission of the Dharma in the modern world. He remains committed to following their example as scholar-practitioners, helping to ensure that the next generation has access to authentic and culturally relevant sources of the Dharma, as his mentors did for him.