He is a native of New York, graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1952, received his PhD from the Rockefeller University in 1961 and worked at the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
He says, "At the age of fourteen, I had asked the question which still dominates my research interests.
After high school, he went to Columbia University where he was the only zoology major.
In 1967, Satir was appointed Associate Professor of Anatomy in Berkeley bringing experience in electron microscopy and modern cell biology to the department.
They went to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine because it offers individual faculty positions to spouses.