	Coleman grew up in the 1960s in Chicago and experienced school desegregation, a violent anti-war movement, and a non-violent civil rights movement first hand. These experiences instilled a strong sense of macro worry: concern over the state of our society and our world. He received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1981. After working with violent youth in New York City in the 1980s, Coleman returned to academics to study how to use science as a tool to address social ills.