He was Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, having held the Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies there.
He received his doctorate at Indiana University in 1970, writing his dissertation on "The Problem of God's Knowledge in Gersonides – A Translation of and Commentary to Book III of the Milhamot Adonai (The Wars of the Lord)".
[5] He was a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, U.K. For several years, Samuelson taught a weekly course on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah to rabbis in the East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
From 2001-2004 he delivered a weekly adult education class on the history of Jewish philosophy for the Reform and Conservative synagogues in the East Valley.
[7] The Samuelsons co-founded the Judaism, Science and Medicine Group in ASU's Jewish Studies Department in 2008[8] and occasionally appeared in the same conference programs.
[9][10] In 2006, the couple summarized their joint positions on transhumanism in an article in Milestones, published by the John Templeton Foundation.