John M. Cimbala was born in 1957 in Pittsburgh, PA. He was graduated from Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, PA in 1975. He received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1979 from the Pennsylvania State University. He then earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California in 1980 and 1984, respectively.

In 1980 John married Suzanne Cimbala. They have two grown sons and reside in Pennsylvania Furnace, a small community several miles west of State College.

John's hobbies include swimming, reading, music, computers, bike-riding, billiards (pool), and racquetball. He also likes to act. Here are some samples - Portraying Charlie Brown, Tribute to Ray Charles.

John Cimbala is a Christian, and has written a short testimony about how and why he became a Christian. John has co-authored several books, but his favorite book is the Bible. If you have doubts about the reliability of the Bible as a historical document, please read this article: Historical_Reliability_of_the_Bible.pdf. Here is also a short article by Josh McDowell summarizing some of the evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

John Cimbala is active in his local church, Fairbrook United Methodist Church , and for many years has been a leader of the Penn State Christian Faculty/Staff Fellowship.

John Cimbala has given lectures at several churches and to several campus and youth ministries on topics related to the Bible and science, particularly the creation/evolution controversy.