Boodin's work preserved the tradition of philosophical idealism within the framework of contemporary science.
[1][2][3] John Elof Boodin was born in Pjätteryd Parish in Älmhult, Kronoberg County, Sweden.
Boodin subsequently attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.
The workpapers of John Elof Boodin are maintained at the University of California Los Angeles Library Special Collections.
[5][6] Among many honors bestowed upon him were his election in 1937 to membership in the permanent council of the World Congress of Philosophy; membership in the Authors' Club of London; appointment as Sir John Adams Lecturer in 1935 and as Faculty Research Lecturer in 1937 at the University of California at Los Angeles.