Ponoroff earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Loyola University Chicago and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.
Ponoroff worked as a professor at Tulane University Law School and served as dean from 2001–2009, succeeding Edward F. Sherman.
Ponoroff became dean of Michigan State University College of Law in 2016.
He is known for authoring the Making and Doing Deals and Core Concepts of Commercial Law casebooks.
Ponoroff has authored numerous articles in bankruptcy journals and at law reviews at Tulane, NYU, Northwestern, the University of Michigan, and other institutions.