He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and attended the American University of Cairo where he specialized in the history of political Islam. Later, he received his MBA at International Management Institute (IMI) and the University of Geneva.

For a decade, he advised clients in the public and private sector across the Middle East for the management consulting firm, MEIRC.  In humanitarian missions, he served with the United Nations in East Timor and the Open Society Institute in Burma.

His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Huffington Post, The Ecologist (Italian), LitHub, Il Manifesto, Airone, and Reset. His critically acclaimed book, Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran, was released by Simon & Schuster in an updated version in 2020. It is a moving chronicle of his family’s odyssey back to Iran after 30 years to search for a long-lost friend. The book has been translated into 6 languages and became a bestseller in Persian. He has been interviewed on BBC, CNN, NBC, NPR, PBS, C-SPAN, and RAI-TV.

His other work, The Guardian of Mercy: How an Extraordinary Painting by Caravaggio Changed an Ordinary Life Today, explores Caravaggio and his masterpiece, “The Seven Acts of Mercy” in Naples. This led to his participation with Cardinal Turkson at the Vatican Press Conference presenting Pope Francis’ declaration of the eighth act of mercy – Care for Our Common Home – an ecological, ecumenical vision for humanity. His recent book, The Wahhabi Code: How the Saudis Spread Extremism Globally, is both timely and compelling.  He was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on CNN on the complex subject.

Among his award-winning documentaries are: Talk Radio Tehran that focuses on intrepid women who fulfill their aspirations in Iran’s gender-apartheid, and Black Africa White Marble which recounts a battle for justice—past and present–between a descendant of the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza and the President of Congo-Brazzaville.

Ward serves on the advisory board of The Markaz (formerly the Levantine Center) in Los Angeles, which embraces all Middle Eastern cultures. He is also a member of PEN International and ISMEO (Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente), the prestigious Middle Eastern institute based in Rome. With his wife, Idanna Pucci, Ward lives in New York and Florence, Italy.