Nathan began his academic career as a history major at University of the Pacific, the oldest chartered institution of higher education in California. Upon graduating with his Master’s degree in History from The University of California, Riverside in 1999, he began his career in archives and museum curatorship at A.K. Smiley Public Library. He earned his PhD in History from UCR in 2006.

Nathan has co-authored Images of America: Redlands, Redlands in Transition: 1945-1980, and Faithfully and Liberally Sustained: Philanthropy in Redlands with Dr. Larry E Burgess, and Redlands in World War I with Dr. Maria Carrillo, Dr. Ann Deegan, and Don McCue. He has published several articles related to the history of southern California and has been a contributor to the Redlands Daily Facts and Redlands Community News. From 2008 - 2014, he also served University of Redlands as Archivist, and occasionally teaches undergraduate classes in US history and the field of Public History at UofR.

Nathan is very involved in community organizations, and has served as president of the Redlands Area Historical Society, University of Redlands Town & Gown, the Redlands Association of Mid-Management Employees, the Rotary Club of Redlands, and the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles, as well as having served on the boards of the Redlands Historical Museum Association and Kimberly-Shirk Association.

In 2021, he was appointed, and in 2022 elected, to represent Redlands and Loma Linda on the San Bernardino Community College District Board of Trustees, which oversees San Bernardino Valley College and Crafton Hills College, and currently serves as Chair of the SBCCD Board and as a member of the Board Finance Committee.