Jacob Needleman (1934-2022) was a Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University for almost 50 years.
His books include I Am Not I, An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth, The Wisdom of Love, Money and the Meaning of Life, A Sense of the Cosmos, Lost Christianity, The Heart of Philosophy, The Way of the Physician, Time and the Soul, Sorcerers, a Novel, The American Soul, Why Can't We Be Good?, The Essential Marcus Aurelius, Real Philosophy, The Tao Te Ching (Introductory Essay), Consciousness & Tradition, and Modern Esoteric Spirituality.
The New Religions (1970) remains a pioneering study of the new American spirituality,

Educated in philosophy at Harvard, Yale and the University of Freiburg, Germany, Dr. Needleman also served as Research Associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, as a Research Fellow at Union Theological Seminary, as Adjunct Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of California Medical School, a Visiting Professor at Duxx Graduate School of Business Leadership in Monterrey, Mexico, Director of the Center for the study of New Religions at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. and as guest Professor of Religious Studies at the Sorbonne, Paris (1992).

He was also General Editor of the Penguin Metaphysical Library, a highly acclaimed selection of sixteen reprinted texts dealing with the contemporary search for spiritual ideas and practice. In addition, he was general editor of the Element Books series, The Spirit of Philosophy-aimed at re-positioning the teachings of the great philosophers of the West to show their relevance to the modern spiritual quest.

In addition to his teaching and writing, Jacob Needleman became well known as an organizer and moderator of conferences in the fields of business, psychology, education, medical ethics and philanthropy. He was featured on Bill Moyers' acclaimed PBS series, "A World of Ideas" in 1990.