As a professor with over 20 years of teaching experience, he has developed numerous courses that deal with different facets of peacebuilding and conflict resolution and regularly publish on the subject.
Abu-Nimer completed his doctoral dissertation, Conflict Resolution between Arabs and Jews in Israel: A Study of Six Intervention Models, in 1993 at George Mason University.
Visiting Research Fellow at the Harry Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace (1999–2000), visiting fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute at Notre Dame University (2002–2003), Senior Peace Fellow in the Evaluation of Peacebuilding Program in a Development Context at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2007–2008)) as well as numerous grants (Annual Kenan Grant for Faculty Development from Guilford College (1995–1997), Peacebuilding and Islam from USIP (2001), Sam Richardson grant for Evaluation of Madrassa in Pakistan (2007–2008)) and awards (Teaching Excellence Award, American Political Science Association (2003), Morton Deutsch Award from the society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence (2005), Distinguished Alumni Award from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University (2009).
Abu-Nimer's newest volume, Faith-Based Peacebuilding: Challenges of Practice, jointly edited with Michele Garred was scheduled for release in 2017.
His articles and chapters have covered themes of forgiveness and peace education in Muslim societies such as “Forgiveness in the Arab and Islamic Contexts; Between Theology and Practice” in Journal of Religious Ethics (2013), “Examining Attitudes and Beliefs about Forgiveness Among Teachers in the Arab World” in Peace and Change: Journal of Peace Research (2016), “Integrating Education for Peace and Diversity in Islamic Schools in Niger; Negotiating Possibilities and Challenges” in the International Review of Education (2017); religion and peacebuilding such as "Culture, Religion, and Politics in International Mediation" in The Handbook of Mediation: Theory, Research and Practice (2017), “Religion and Peacebuilding: Reflections on Current Challenges and Future Prospects” in Journal of Inter-Religious Studies (2015); non-violence such as “Islamic Principles of Nonviolent and Peace Building: A Framework,” in Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World: Challenges for U.S.