Positions of leadership have always been a part of Khalid Latif’s life. Born and raised in Edison, New Jersey, Imam Latif was captain of his high school football and track teams, Student Council president, and one of only three Muslims in his graduating class. Imam Latif moved to New York City in 2000 to attend New York University and attained his Bachelors degree with honors in Political Science and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. It was during this time that he was exposed to a diverse array of Muslims from all over the world and for the first time was taught to really reflect on and embrace his Islam. He began to take classes in the Islamic Sciences with local scholars and, after graduating from NYU, Imam Latif completed coursework at the Hartford Theological Seminary in the field of Islamic Chaplaincy. In 2005 he was appointed as the first Muslim chaplain at NYU where he began to initiate his vision for a pluralistic future on and off campus for American Muslims.

Imam Latif was also appointed as the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University in 2006. Spending a year commuting between these two excellent institutions, he finally decided to commit full-time to New York University’s Islamic Center where his position was officially institutionalized in the spring of 2007. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever fully established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. Imam Latif’s exceptional dedication and ability to cross interfaith and cultural lines on a daily basis brought him recognition throughout the city, so much so that in 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg nominated Imam Latif to become the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24.

Juggling all these responsibilities, Imam Latif has not only managed to solidify the basis of a strong Muslim community at NYU that seeks to emphasize inclusiveness and understanding of others without compromise, but has also worked tirelessly to foster dialogue with people of other faiths in order to clarify misconceptions and encourage mutual education. Outside of his defined roles as chaplain for NYU and the NYPD, Imam Latif has served as an educator for Abraham's Vision, a group focused on Jewish-Muslim relations and conflict resolution, Independent Viewpoints, a group focused on Sunni-Shi’a relations, and is a member of the Muslim Consultative Network, an organization made up of numerous Muslim leaders from New York City.

Imam Latif’s numerous speaking engagements and awards have kept him in the public eye as one of New York City’s most promising and well-known young Muslim leaders. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall and a number of prestigious universities, including Princeton, Harvard, the University of Massachusetts, Stonybrook and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has done consultation work for the State Department’s International Visitors Program and its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the British Consulate and Parliament. Imam Latif is currently featured in the Islamic Center at NYU’s podcast which gets over 15,000 hits per month from around the world.

Through his work Imam Latif has demonstrated not only an exceptional dedication to gaining and disseminating religious knowledge and values, but has begun to carve out a much-needed space for young American Muslims to celebrate their unique identity and have their voices heard in the larger public sphere.