Akiva Goldsman was born on July 7, 1962, in New York City, the son of Tev Goldsman, a therapist, and Mira Rothenberg, a child Psychologist. His family is Jewish. His parents ran a group home for emotionally disturbed children. Goldsman's parents were occupied with their work, and Goldsman said, "By the time I was 10 or 12, I realized they had taken my parents away from me. I wanted nothing more to do with that world. I wanted to be a Writer. I had a fantasy that someday I'd see my name on a book." In 1983, Goldsman attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After graduation, Goldsman studied creative writing at New York University and began writing screenplays.