He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dartmouth College and received a master's degree in economics from the University of Michigan.
While in Jordan, he arranged secret meetings between Jordanian and Israeli officials on issues such as telecommunications, counterterrorism and water sharing.
Because he protected American lives during a Bolivian military coup d'état in 1979, he received the State Department's Superior Honor Award.
Boeker was president and chief executive of the Institute of the Americas at the University of California, San Diego, a networking organization between Western Hemisphere countries in multiple economic sectors.
[1] Boeker died from brain cancer at his home in San Diego, California, on March 29, 2003, at the age of 64.