Jeffrey Small, Jr. is the author of the bestselling thriller, The Breath of God, which won the Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for Best Fiction and was hailed as "a thought-provoking masterpiece" by RT Book Reviews, "visionary fiction" by Library Journal, and "a fast-paced adventure" by Kirkus.  His recently released second novel, The Jericho Deception, just won the Gold Medal for Best Suspense/Thriller by the 2013 IPPY Book Awards and is being lauded as “a ripping good novel” by #1 bestselling author Douglas Preston. He is also a popular blogger on Huffington Post, and an acclaimed speaker on religious and spirituality topics.

Jeffrey graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. While at Yale, he served as Publisher and Senior Editor of the Yale Herald. He then graduated magna cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School where he was elected to the Board of Student Advisors and taught speech, legal writing, and research. Jeffrey next earned a Masters in the Study of Religions from Oxford University in England where he was a member of Oriel College.

Jeffrey is active in the Episcopal Church, current serving as a member of the Board of Trustees at General Theological Seminary in New York, but he has also studied Yoga in India, practiced Buddhist meditation in Bhutan, explored the ancient temples in Egypt, and journeyed throughout the Holy Land.

When not pursing his passion for theological discourse, Jeffrey is the CEO and founder of MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate investment and development company. Working with The Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo, MDH Partners has participated in over $2 billion of acquisitions and developments. He is also a current member of the board of directors of Indcor, a Blackstone company that is one of the largest owners of industrial properties in the country. Prior to founding his firm in 2005, Jeffrey was the CEO of M.D. Hodges, one of the southeast’s largest real estate development companies with a portfolio of over 13 million sq. ft. and 1600 acres of land. He began his professional career practicing corporate law at the Atlanta law firm King & Spalding.

Jeffrey’s eclectic hobbies include being a former US Champion amateur ballroom dancer with his wife, Alison. He also held the rank of Black Sash in Kung Fu, specializing in the the Internal Arts.

Jeffrey currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, where he focuses on education in the 21st century, and he serves Board of Trustees at General Theological Seminary in New York, the first seminary of the Episcopal Church.  Previously he served for nine years as a member of the board of trustees at Trinity School in Atlanta where he chaired the Educational Policy Committee, and he is the former Vice-Chairman of the Board of IMAGE Film and Video, the organizer of the Atlanta Film Festival. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of First Century Energy, a green energy company targeted on the commercial and industrial real estate market.

His proudest accomplishments are his marriage and friendship with his wife and their smart, beautiful, and sweet daughter.