Zimmerman received his bachelor's degree from Mankato State University in 1987 in French, philosophy, and English.

He went on to receive a Master of Arts degree from Brown University in 1990 and then a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the same institution in 1992, where he worked with Jaegwon Kim and Roderick Chisholm.

Zimmerman was hired to Rutgers at the same time as John Hawthorne and Ted Sider.

[5] He also serves on the board of advisors of the Marc Sanders Foundation,[6] which awards prizes for outstanding work in philosophy.

In philosophy of religion, Zimmerman has worked on divine foreknowledge and human free will, and God and time.