Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, formerly Gwendolyn Robinson, is an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Florida, where she researches Islamic feminism and the impact of Sharia law on Muslim women. She was a civil rights activist, serving as a member of both the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Nation of Islam (NOI). Simmons has received a number of prestigious fellowships, including a Fulbright Fellowship, USAID Fellowships, and an American Center of Oriental Research Fellowship.